Ugandan Defense Minister Amama Mbabazi on Friday said Ugandan army has started joint operations with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and Sudan Forces to pursue Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels inside Sudan.

Mbabazi was quoted by Ugandan government radio as saying that Sudan has permitted Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) to cross the Red Line and to use limited aerial power inside Sudan.

Mbabazi said LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony is still in Sudan, adding that Kony's efforts to cross over to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were blocked by SPLA and UPDF forces.

He was satisfied with the level of cooperation between Uganda and Sudan, saying that Joseph Kony has no more territorial protection.

The minister further announced that the United Nations and Kinshasa government had deployed troops to Aba region in DRC to surround and pursue LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti who is hiding around Yei and Meridi.

The LRA rebels have been fighting the Ugandan government for the last 19 years, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing over 1.4 million people in northern Uganda. The rebels use their bases in southern Sudan to attack Uganda.

Source: Xinhua