Ugandan LRA rebels kill at least 15 in Congo -U.N.

By Joe Bavier

KINSHASA, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Ugandan rebels fleeing a multinational offensive have raided a Congolese village and killed at least 15 people, U.N. peacekeepers said on Friday.

Uganda, Congo and South Sudan launched a joint assault on Dec. 14 against bases of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group, in Democratic Republic of Congo. But they have so far failed to corner its reclusive leader, Joseph Kony.

The United Nations mission in Congo (MONUC) said fleeing LRA fighters attacked the village of Faradje, near Congo's porous border with Sudan, on Dec. 24 and 25.

"According to our sources, at least 15 people were killed in the town of Faradje, which suffered looting and destruction of homes," MONUC said in a statement.

A Ugandan military spokesman earlier told Reuters the rebels had killed 35 civilians in five different raids over the two-day period, but this report could not be independently confirmed.

Congo's Foreign Minister Alexis Thambe Mwamba told reporters in Paris earlier this week that he expected to be "totally rid" of the rebels within days.

The joint offensive was launched after Kony, a self-styled mystic, failed again to sign a peace deal to end his rebellion against the Ugandan government. Despite early claims of success, it has so far failed to locate Kony and crush the rebels, infamous for kidnapping women and using children as fighters.

"They are avoiding any possible contact. They are not willing to confront us. They are still elusive," said Captain Chris Magezi, the Ugandan spokesman for the joint operation.