Uganda's rebel leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony has crossed into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from the southern Sudan, Ugandan military sources have said.

The state-owned newspaper, The New Vision on Saturday quoted northern-based overall army intelligence coordinator, Col. Charles Otema Awany and army spokesman Lt. Chris Magezi as saying that they had received the reports, which they were yet to confirm.

"There are reports of Kony crossing the White Nile into the DRC, which we are trying to verify. It is possible that he could try to follow his deputy, Vincent Otti, who is already in Congo. But that move will be vain and is an act of desperation. Kony has few options left and we will relentlessly pursue him," Magezi said.

He added that "a few days ago, our troops in southern Sudan cornered Kony northeast of Juba and were about to strike when he fled southward."

Otti, deputy commander of rebel LRA, crossed into DRC in September with about 300 fighters and is believed to be hiding in Garamba National Park in northeastern part of the central African country.

On Thursday, about 150 troops from the United Nations mission in the DRC were sent to the Aba region near the border with southern Sudan to look for Otti and disarm his troops wherever they are.

LRA rebels, based in southern Sudan, have killed over tens of thousands of civilians, abducted over 20,000 children and displaced over 1.4 million people in their 19-year rebellion in northern Uganda.

Recently, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Kony and his top deputies.

Source: Xinhua