Over 500 Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) soldiers have been relocated from Kisoro in South Western Uganda pending arrangements to return them back to their government.

"They have been re-located from Bunagana to Kasese where the facilities are relatively better that those of Bunagana," the UPDF 2nd Division commander, Capt. Peter Mugisha, told New Vision Saturday evening.

Quoting their commander, Major Ndinda Mpigiya, Capt. Mugisha said the soldiers were 508.

They fled into Uganda following the Friday clashes with the M23 rebels loyal to Bosco Ntaganda rebels who have since seized the border Congolese town of Bunagana.

During armed clashes, the M23 rebels disarmed the FARDC, who had been were deployed in the area.

As the rebels took control of the Democratic Republic of Congo side of the town of Bunagana, an Indian peacekeeper was killed, the UN says.

M23 rebels loyal to Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, took up arms in April.

They defected from the army after pressure increased on the government to arrest Gen Ntaganda, when one of his former colleagues was convicted of recruiting child soldiers by the ICC.

The M23 rebels are said to be in control a 15km (10 mile) stretch of the border running south from the famous Virunga National Park, home to rare mountain gorillas.

The Congolese soldiers were moved to the town of Kisoro, which is about 8km from the border before being relocated to Kasese yesterday(Saturday).

Some 200,000 people have fled their homes since April, with about 20,000 crossing the border to Uganda and Rwanda.

Mineral-rich eastern DR Congo has suffered years of fighting since 1994, when more than a million Rwandan ethnic Hutus fled crossed the border following the genocide, in which some 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were slaughtered.

Rwanda has twice invaded its much larger neighbour, saying it was trying to take action against Hutu rebels based in DR Congo. Uganda also sent troops into DR Congo during the 1997-2003 conflict.

The current mutiny is being led by fighters from Gen Ntaganda's former rebel group the CNDP, which was integrated into the Congolese national army in 2009 as part of a peace deal.

Known as "the Terminator", Gen Ntaganda has fought for various militias over the years but has told the BBC he has no involvement in the recent army mutiny.