KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 2 (UPI) -- United Nations peacekeepers from Pakistan in the Democratic Republic of Congo reportedly killed more than 50 rebels in a gun battle.
"While on operation we were fired upon, so we immediately responded," Col. Dominique Demange, a spokesman for U.N. forces, told the BBC Wednesday.
He said the Pakistani U.N. troops used helicopter gun ships and armored vehicles in the operation against the ethnic Lendu Nationalist and Integrationist Front, known as FNI.
Two U.N. soldiers were injured in the exchange.
The firefight occurred in the province of Ituri, where the same rebel front killed nine Bangladeshi U.N. peacekeepers last week. Monday, the Congolese government said three FNI commanders had been detained in the incident.
Ethnic militias in Ituri have refused to disarm and have continued to fight for control over the region's rich natural resources.
The U.N. force in DR Congo is one of the world's largest, at more than 13,000.
