Ugandan troops pursuing the elusive leader of the Lord?s Resistance Army rebels in southern Sudan killed 25 rebels in a clash with the guerrillas for weeks, an army spokesman said yesterday.

It was not immediately possible to verify the claim by the army, which said it killed the rebels on Saturday. The Ugandan army says it has been closing in on LRA leader Joseph Kony, hoping to capture the rebel who has eluded them for 18 years.

Major Shaban Bantariza, Uganda?s senior army spokesman, said it was unclear whether Kony had been killed in the fighting.

Bantariza said the army killed the rebels near a location called Pakanyara in southern Sudan, about 10 km (six miles) from the Imatong hills where Kony is believed to have been hiding in recent weeks.

Ugandan forces are allowed to attack the rebels inside southern Sudan under a 2002 accord with Khartoum.