Ugandan soldiers have been saying goodbye

The BBC's Will Ross in Bunia says some 650 soldiers have now flown home along with miltiary hardware and ammunition, but this remains a small fraction of the more than 6,000 soldiers stationed there.

United Nations peacekeepers continue to land in Bunia.

However, only 200 have so far arrived, raising concerns that without the Ugandan troop presence a power vacuum may emerge.

The volatile area has been the scene of long-running clashes between ethnic militias in which thousands have died and been displaced.

The troop pull out is the latest part of a plan to return control of DR Congo to its people after four years of war which has involved at least six African countries, including Uganda.

The United Nations had asked Uganda to keep some troops in Ituri to maintain law and order.

But the UN subsequently accused Ugandan soldiers of plundering Congo's resources and they have been under international pressure to withdraw.

Conflicting claims

The commander of the Ugandan troops, Brigadier Kale Kaihura, says it will take at least three weeks for a full withdrawal from the north-east and they will keep some 1,000 troops in the border area.

The first batch of UN soldiers has arrived in Bunia

He said the army failed to begin the operation on Thursday as planned after an accident at the airport in Bunia. He said a plane had punctured one of its tyres and damaged the runway.

He said earlier that the UN had asked Ugandan troops to stay to maintain order, but the UN peacekeeping force head General Mountaga Diallo rejected that claim.

Just prior to their departure, the Ugandan military officially handed over administrative control to a transitional body representing a variety of Congolese groups in the region.

Thousands of people assembled in the centre of Bunia to witness the handover ceremony.

About 200 Congolese police have now started work in Bunia where they were met by cheering residents.

Eastern clashes

In eastern Congo heavy fighting has broken out between Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy rebels and members of the Mai Mai militia.

They are reported to be fighting for control of the hills overlooking the town of Uvira.

Residents of Uvira contacted by telephone said several houses inside the town were hit by shells; they said there has been a heavy exchange of artillery fire from the early hour of the morning.

Uvira residents also say that an unspecified number of people have left the town for the nearby Burundian border.

RCD fighters and Mai Mai militants have, in the past, fought each other for control of Uvira.