The Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) has killed a total of 83 Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) since the beginning of this month, army spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza said on Thursday.

In a press release issued, Bantariza said the UPDF has so far rescued 144 abductees from the rebels and captured 16 rebels in this month.

The spokesman said the army also recovered 88 rifles and 17 grenades from the rebels in the areas of Pader, Gulu and Lira, northern Uganda.

He added during the same period, the LRA rebels killed 188 civilians, mostly in Pagak and Lukodi displaced persons' camps.

LRA rebels, based in southern Sudan, have fought the Ugandan government in the last 18 years, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing over one million people in the northern partof the east African country.