9 dead in eastern Congo clashes

Clashes between rival militia groups in eastern Congo have killed nine fighters and reduced dozens of houses to smoldering ruins, aid officials said Friday.

The fighting erupted a week ago in Minembwe, a remote town about 120 miles southwest of the eastern lakeside city of Uvira, said Maj. Gabriel de Brosses, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo.

About 100 homes were burned, and cattle and goods were looted, said Olivier Byabagabo, a pastor in Uvira who leads a local aid group that works in the region.

The fighting pits a militia known as the Mai Mai against fighters loyal to dissident army Col. Jules Mutebusi, whose rebel forces briefly seized the eastern city of Bukavu in 2004.

De Brosses said six Mai Mai and three of the rival militiamen were killed.

It was not clear what sparked the fighting.

Congo's mineral-rich eastern reaches are the most unstable parts of the country, with violence breaking out regularly between rival militias and leaving civilians dead.

A U.N. statement said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "deeply concerned at the deteriorating security situation" in eastern Congo.

"He is particularly troubled by the dire humanitarian consequences, which include the internal displacement of some 700,000 persons in the region," the statement said.

U.N. peacekeepers helped end a wider 1998-2002 war in Congo that engulfed six neighboring countries. A nearly 18,000-strong peacekeeping force in Congo is the U.N.'s largest peacekeeping operation.

Last year, Congo held its first free elections in more than 40 years, but the government led by President Joseph Kabila remains fragile.