French troops in Congo clash

The region is the scene of some of the worst atrocities in the civil war

French soldiers sent to protect civilians from violence by rival ethnic militias in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been involved in an exchange of fire for the first time.

A military spokesman said there were no French casualties in the clash with unidentified gunmen about six kilometres (4 miles) from the town of Bunia, which lasted about 20 minutes.

The BBC's Mark Doyle, who visited Bunia this week, says the Lendu and Hema militias resent the foreign military presence and it was perhaps inevitable that one of them would test the French-led international force.

A reconnaissance patrol was engaged this morning at 1000am (0800 GMT). It responded with light arms then fired 90mm cannon

French military spokesman
Colonel Gerard Dubois

Hundreds of people have been killed in violence in the past two months which has pitted Hema militia now based inside Bunia against their Lendu enemies, who are currently mainly to the south.

French troops began arriving in Bunia earlier this week under a UN mandate to protect the civilian population, using force if necessary.

'Cheering'

Witnesses said attackers hidden in long grass fired mortars and machine-guns at a convoy comprising 15 all-terrain vehicles, an armoured vehicle and about 70 soldiers, who then returned fire.

A reporter for the Reuters news agency counted at least 10 blasts from mortars fired by the attackers, before French fighter jets appeared overhead.

According to the Associated Press news agency, a few dozen fighters from the Hema faction - known as the Union of Congolese Patriots, or UPC - passed the French troops when the firing started, and some cheered as the French opened fire.

Genocide warnings

The ethnic unrest in Bunia is stoked by numerous factors - most notably the strategic interests of neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, which have armed the militias, but also by general lawlessness and poverty.

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In pictures

Bunia is still controlled by Hema fighters who are refusing to disarm.

Aid workers say 14 people have disappeared from the town since Sunday and many are still too scared to return home.

Some 50,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict between Hemas and Lendus in the past four years.

Warnings of genocide prompted the European Union and the UN to intervene in the gold-rich region when
fighting flared in the wake of the pull-out by Ugandan troops in May as part of moves to bring peace to DR Congo.

The EU is sending a 1,500-strong, French dominated, peacekeeping force to Bunia.