The 1,000 or so troops who crossed into Uganda at Goli, 200 kilometresmiles) northeast of Ituri's battle-scarred capital, Bunia, were followed by some 1,500 DRC refugees.

Bowing to international pressure but warning of a bloodbath, Uganda began withdrawing thousands of troops stationed in Ituri in late April.

Since then, fierce clashes between rival ethnic factions have rocked Bunia, prompting most of its 350,000 residents to flee and leading the UN to try to organise an international rapid reaction force.

Uganda first sent troops to the DRC in August 1998, when together with Rwanda it backed rebel groups trying to topple then DRC president Laurent Kabila.

"We feel so happy that we have at last withdrawn after completing our mission and returned home," the commander of the batallion that crossed into Uganda on Monday, Lieutenant Colonel Mawa Muhindo, told journalists.

The soldiers walked in single file, followed by armoured vehicles, including tanks, as they crossed the Goli border post in the northest Nebbi district.

They were received by senior Ugandan military officials and diplomats, including US and South African military attaches.

Another battalion simultaneously crossed the border at Kisenyi, further south near Lake Albert.

The two battalions had been walking back to Uganda since Kampala started its troop withdrawal from the DRC on April 25.

Muhindo said the Ugandan soldiers were deeply sorry that killings had escalated after they withdrew.

"I hope the UN can intervene and end the ethnic violence there," Muhindo said.

"I have been in the DRC for five years. I left my pregnant wife at home and I have never seen them since then," Private David Wanyama, 28, said.

"I want to see my parents and wife," added Wanyama, who comes from Busia near the border with Kenya.

One refugee from Bunia, 40-year-old Hadija Bamaisa, recalled the violence in his home town, where fighters from the ethnic Hema minority have repeatedly battled the majority Lendu.

"The Lendus just broke into Hema houses, without asking anything, and started killing everybody. We were just lucky that we escaped with our lives," said Bamaisa, a mother of 10.

She said she lost other members of her family after the attack.

WAR.WIRE