Renewed fighting flairs in DR Congo

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Armed clashes erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo between Tutsi rebels and a pro-government militia, United Nations officials said Wednesday.

The rebels, led by Gen. Laurent Nkunda, had been observing a weeklong cease-fire with government troops as they advanced toward the eastern Congo provincial capital of Goma, but sporadic firefights have broken out between Nkunda's forces and the Mai-Mai militia, Afrol News reported.

U.N. officials said their base was caught in the crossfire between Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of the People forces and the Mai-Mai. U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, visiting Goma Wednesday, said his mandate was to protect civilians and to support the Congolese Army in disarming rebel forces, saying, "Our mandate is not to defend cities."

The renewed fighting came after Nkunda threatened to topple the DR Congo government in Kinshasa unless President Joseph Kabila agreed to hold direct talks with him, something Kabila has so far refused to do, Afrol News reported.