By Raymond Baguma
and Agencies

THE United Nations (UN) has deployed 900 peacekeepers in a remote region of Democratic Republic of Congo to fend off Christmas attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.

The UN spokesman, Martin Nesirky, said on Tuesday that UN forces would go to a region where the LRA killed more than 1,000 adults and children around Christmas time in 2008 and 2009 and kidnapped hundreds more.

The UN mission in DR. Congo is also sending extra humanitarian supplies to the region, according to Nesirky.

He said a special operation against the LRA had been launched in the Dungu district of Upper Uele region and would carry on until mid January because of fear of Christmas attacks.

The announcement came after the UN security council called for greater international action against the LRA, led by Joseph Kony.

The council welcomed an African Union move to set up a joint task force to fight the LRA and deploy joint border patrols.

“It calls for the countries of the region to enhance coordination and information sharing regarding the threat posed by the LRA,” said a security council statement.

Ugandan special forces currently lead the international hunt for Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In December 2008, LRA fighters killed 865 people in the north eastern DR Congo and Southern Sudan. They also kidnapped hundreds of others.

In 2009, 3,00 people were murdered between December 14 and 17, also in north east DR Congo. The US has promised to support a new effort to arrest Kony and end the conflict generated by the LRA.

However, in a report on the past attacks, 19 aid agencies said the security council should do more. The report noted that LRA attacks remote communities in Sudan, Central African Republic and DRC almost four times a week.