Fugitive African warlord Joseph Kony said to be sickly

Defectors from the Lord's Resistance Army say the armed group's fugitive leader is sickly and in retreat from an international manhunt that includes US forces.

A Ugandan military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda, said Monday that defectors report that Joseph Kony is possibly suffering from diabetes.

He said the defectors surrendered to Ugandan troops in Central African Republic last month.

Kasper Agger, a researcher with the watchdog group Enough Project, said he receives many reports of Kony's failing health but it is impossible to independently verify them.

He said the reports from defectors suggest that the apparently ill Kony "doesn't have the same willingness to fight."

Kony is believed to be hiding in Kafia Kingi, a Sudanese-controlled enclave on the border of Central African Republic and South Sudan.