Uganda has stepped up monitoring its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in readiness for any spill- over of clashes between militia forces and government troops in the lawless north eastern region of the DRC, a Ugandan military spokesman said Tuesday. "We are closely monitoring the Congo border. We have deployed as usual but its not massive deployment. We have stepped up close monitoring and this involves observation and intelligence gathering. Any spill-over of fighting in the DRC is of great interest to us," spokesman major Felix Kulayigye told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa). The clashes involve government troops on the one hand and the combined forces of Mai Mai tribal fighters and Interahamwe rebels who were responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. According to major Kulayigye, a militia group which he did not name is carrying out attacks on government positions in the Blue Mountains in Congo's north eastern region of Ituri while the Mai Mai and Interahamwe are clashing with government troops in South Kivu province around the area of Kibuye. --SP 22 38 Local Time 19 38 GMT
