KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A Ugandan military official says the hunt for fugitive warlord Joseph Kony will continue in the jungles of central Africa despite U.S. withdrawal from the mission.

Army spokesman Brig. Richard Karemire said Thursday that Uganda is thankful for U.S. support over the years in efforts to defeat Kony's Lord's Resistance Army. American forces were deployed as advisers in 2011.

The U.S. Africa Command said in a statement Wednesday that, because the LRA has been weakened, the mission "will remove U.S. military forces specifically focused on counter-LRA and transition to broader scope security and stability activities that continue the success of our African partners."

Karemire said he didn't agree with U.S. characterization of Kony as "irrelevant."

The LRA once was notorious for abducting children to use as fighters or sex slaves.