More than 12,000 children have been abducted by rebels

The Ugandan army said that on Friday it killed 80 LRA fighters following another raid a week ago.

The government hopes that the new deployment, in the Sudanese regions of Rubone and Kisaga, will drive out the LRA rebels from the border region who are said to have been roaming neighbouring villages for the past two months.

Rebel support

Abductees include five year old children

Uganda has in the past accused Khartoum of supporting the LRA, which has been fighting President Museveni for the past 15 in the north, planning to replace the present constitution with the Bible's Ten Commandments of God.

Sudan on its part had accused Uganda of aiding the Sudan People's Liberation Army, which since 1983 has been fighting for autonomy for the animist and Christian southern Sudan from the Arabic north.

Following a peace accord signed in Nairobi in 1999 both countries pledged to stop supporting each other's rebels and last year the two restored diplomatic ties after a six-year break.

The LRA, led by Joseph Kony, is notorious for abducting children turning them into soldiers and some into concubines. At least 12,000 children have been abducted since 1986.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in Uganda and nearly 500,000 have fled their homes.