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Uganda says DRC border is calm

KAMPALA, Uganda, July 16 (UPI) -- The situation along the Ugandan border with the Democratic Republic of Congo is less violent than in recent weeks, a Ugandan police spokesman said.

Heavy fighting was reported early this week between rebel forces in eastern DRC and the Congolese military. The International Committee of the Red Cross said tens of thousands of people fled DRC to Uganda to escape a rebel campaign from the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan militant group.

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Police spokesman Bakari Mugah Bashir told the Daily Monitor newspaper in Uganda the situation in eastern DRC was returning to normal though a sense of unease remained over the area.

"The situation at the border is now calm," he said Tuesday.

Aid officials said there were more than 800 children stranded in refugee camps along the border.

Rebel leaders told the BBC this week they wanted to sit down at the negotiating table with DRC President Joseph Kabila.

Members of the March 23 Movement took control over parts of eastern DRC last year. Peace talks between rebel elements and DRC leaders have stalled.

Rebel forces in DRC are suspected of committing human rights abuses ranging from the conscription of child soldiers to the use of rape as a weapon of war.

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