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24 July, 2012 - 19:36

New clashes erupt between army, rebels in DR Congo

A displaced Congolese boy from Bihumba sits with his family outside a primary school being used for shelter in the village of Kibati on the outskirts of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's restive North Kivu province. United Nations helicopters fired on rebel positions in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after new clashes broke out between rebel fighters and loyalist troops. data/files/photo_1343162201964-3-0.jpg

Renewed clashes broke out Tuesday between M23 rebel fighters and loyalist troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a military official said.Major Olivier Hamuli, the army spokesman for Nord Kivu province, said fighting erupted after rebels attacked army positions around Rugari and Kimumba, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of regional capital Goma.No casualty figures were immediately available but the fighting appeared to have calmed down by the afternoon as hundreds of residents fled the region.The mutineers are Tutsi ex-rebels who were integrated into the regular army in 2009 as part of a peace deal that followed their failed 2008 offensive on Goma.They mutinied in April, demanding better pay and the full implementation of the March 23, 2009 peace deal after which they are named.