Uganda said Saturday that it has beefed up it forces on its south-western border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in readiness for a spill-over of fighting as Congolese government troops prepare an offensive against renegade forces led by a dissenting military general. Army officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that hundreds of civilians, mostly traders, were stranded in the main south-western town of Bunagana on the Congolese border, 490 kilometres from Kampala. They fear being caught up in clashes between the Congolese army and forces of General Laurent Nkunda, an ethnic Tutsi who claims he is protecting his tribesmen from other groups and the rival Rwandan Hutu rebels in Congo's volatile North Kivu region, military sources said. The Congolese government had given Nkunda seven days to disarm and the deadline is due to expire soon. If Nkunda's forces cross into Uganda, this would be unacceptable and they would have to come unarmed and surrender to authorities, the regional military spokesman, Lieutenant Tabaro Kiconco told dpa.
