The Army says Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army rebels have been severely weakened in a recent offensive by regional armies on their camps in DR Congo, and was no longer a fighting force.
James Mugira, who heads Uganda's military intelligence, told the French Press Agency that the LRA have the fighting force capacity and have gone in hiding.
In December 2008, the governments of Uganda, DRC and Sudan launched a joint offensive against the LRA.
The offensive dubbed Operation Lighting Thunder ended in March when internal political pressure forced Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila to demand Uganda's withdrawal from Congolese territory.
Mugira said the rebels have also been weakened by the withdrawal of support from the Sudanese government in Khartoum.
But Washington-based rights group Enough said in a report Tuesday the drive ended prematurely and left civilians in northeastern DR Congo vulnerable to LRA reprisal attacks.
Julia Spiegel, co-author of the report, told AFP that there is a pervasive fear of LRA attacks since Uganda left and a feeling of no security.
LRA leader Joseph Kony began his rebellion in northern Uganda in the late 1980s, but has also operated in south Sudan, the Central African Republic and most recently DR Congo.
Kony and his top two surviving deputies are wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges.
