Lord's Resistance Army denies massacre

KAMPALA, Uganda, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels say they didn't massacre more than 400 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo as has been alleged.

Witnesses have been quoted saying the killings took place last week close to Congo's border with Sudan, where the two armies along with Ugandan forces attacked LRA rebels earlier this month. But LRA chief peace negotiator David Matsanga says the slayings were carried out by another group, the Voice of America reported Wednesday.

Matsanga laid blame for the massacre on a special battalion of the Uganda Peoples Defense Force made up of ex-LRA combatants who had defected since 2004, VOA said.

"I put it to the Ugandan government that this battalion … is the one that is trained to go do a lot of atrocities against the people of Congo and turn it on to the LRA because they think the LRA cannot speak," Matsanga said.

Ugandan military Capt. Chris Magezi, a spokesman for the joint military operation, has alleged that LRA fighters used machetes and swords to carry out the killings.