Kampala - The Ugandan military said Saturday that more than 30 fighters from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) had surrendered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Ugandan and Congolese military joined forces last year to battle the rebels in eastern DR Congo, where they fled several years ago after a decades-long rebellion in Uganda.

"The rebels surrendered ... because of heavy pressure and because they have not been in touch with (LRA leader Joseph) Kony for a long time," army spokesman lieutenant colonel Felix Kulayigye told the German Press Agency dpa.

Kulayigye said 34 LRA fighters gave themselves up.

The surrender follows the killing of a senior LRA commander earlier in the week by Ugandan troops near the Central African Reupblic (CAR) border with Sudan.

The International Criminal Court in 2005 issued arrest warrants for Kony and four of his commanders for murder, torture, rape and the abduction and conscription of children in war.

The rebels have since been attacking villages in DR Congo, Southern Sudan and the CAR from their Congolese jungle bases. (dpa)