Kampala boosts army presence along border

The Ugandan army has bolstered military monitors on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after recent clashes in the Congolese border town of Kasenyi, on the shores of Lake Albert, raised fears that fighting in Ituri District could spill into Uganda. "We are concerned about how close the fighting is to Uganda and that's why we have forces monitoring the situation closely at the border," Maj Shaban Bantariza, Uganda People's Defence Forces spokesperson, told IRIN on Monday. He said Uganda's primary concern was that elements hostile to the country, such as the dissident Ugandan People's Redemption Army (PRA), which Ugandan security officials say is operating in the DRC, could take advantage of the attention given to the fighting in Ituri to attack Uganda. Kasenyi is on the Ugandan border. "There is a long history of terrorists using situations like this," he said. "We know the PRA is in Kasenyi and we know that even some individual elements of the ADF [Allied Democratic Forces] are there, just waiting. They are defeated but not dead," he said. However, he said that Uganda would under no circumstances redeploy to the DRC. "Never, never. We shall handle the threat from our side," he said. He added that it was up to the UN to ensure that security was maintained on the Congolese side of Lake Albert. There has been fighting in Bunia, the main town of Ituri, since 7 May when the Ugandan army withdrew. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands others displaced by fighting pitting Hema militias against Lendu fighters seeking to control the town.