UPDATE 2-Ugandan LRA rebels kill 189 Congo villagers -U.N.

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By Joe Bavier

KINSHASA, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels killed 189 people during three days of raids on villages in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo last week, a U.N. agency said on Monday, citing local officials.

U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said the killings were reported to have been carried out between Thursday and Saturday in Faradje, Doruma and Gurba villages by LRA fighters fleeing a two-week-old multinational military offensive led by Uganda.

"According to local officials, on Dec. 25, the rebels killed 40 people in Faradje. On Dec. 26 and 27, they attacked Doruma and the neighbouring village of Gurba, killing 89 people in Doruma and 60 people in Gurba," OCHA said in a statement.

At least 20 children and an unknown number of adults were abducted during the attacks, OCHA added.

Uganda, Congo and South Sudan launched a joint assault on LRA bases in Congo's isolated Garamba National Park on Dec. 14 after the rebels' leader, Joseph Kony, again failed to sign a peace deal to end his rebellion against the Ugandan government.

Days after the offensive began, U.N. Security Council member states commended the three neighbours' decision to take on the LRA, whose two-decade bush war has killed thousands of people in northern Uganda and displaced about two million more.

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