Six fighters of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) were also killed during the fighting outside the Hakitara barracks, the official, speaking from the nearby town of Fort Portal, said.

He claimed the fighters had also looted homes in surrounding villages and stolen 10 herd of cattle from local herders as they retreated after three hours of fighting with government troops.

Authorities have deployed thousands of troops in western Uganda to fight the ADF, which has intensified its attacks in the region in recent weeks. The group is an alliance of Muslims and remnants of defunct rebel groups and has been fighting to destabilize President Yoweri Museveni's administration since 1996.

Uganda has a population of 23 million, 16 percent of whom are Muslim. Most of the people are Christian.

In another development, an army commander in northern Uganda told a local radio station that more than 200 fighters of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) had entered Uganda from bases in southern Sudan during the past couple of days.

"We are following their movements closely," Col. Samuel Kawagga told the private CBS FM radio station in an interview from the town of Gulu.

Uganda accused Sudan of backing both the ADF and LRA rebels. Khartoum for its part accused Kampala of aiding the Sudan People's Liberation Army rebellion in southern Sudan.

Museveni and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Beshir signed an agreement in Nairobi on Dec. 8 pledging to stop supporting each other's rebel groups and to take steps towards restoring diplomatic ties.

Joint ministerial, political, security and humanitarian affairs committees from both countries are expected to meet in Nairobi next month to work out how the agreement should be implemented.



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