U.S. airlift support to bolster African hunt for violent warlord

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is deploying four tilt-rotor transport planes to Uganda in response to African Union requests for airlift support in the hunt for the elusive leader of the violent Lord's Resistance Army extremist group, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The U.S. Defense Department has deployed the four CV-22 Osprey, which can take off and land vertically, to Uganda from Djibouti along with tanker refuelling airplanes and 150 air crew and support personnel, said Rear Admiral John Kirby, a top Pentagon spokesman.