The United Nations has endorsed an African Union force to capture warlord Joseph Kony and neutralise his Lord's Resistance Army.

The plan establishes a new force of 5000 soldiers and bolsters humanitarian efforts.

Rebel leader Joseph Kony. Credit:Reuters

The LRA carried out its worst atrocities in northern Ugandan in the 1990s, but by 2004 had largely been driven out of the area.

Remnants, however, continued to attack civilians in Uganda and three neighbouring countries.

The group is notorious for carrying out massacres, mutilating victims and abducting boys for use as child soldiers.

Kony and the LRA gained notoriety following a YouTube video, Kony 2012, that went viral.

AP