Goma - Fresh clashes were reported on Wednesday between armed groups in a troubled region in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in breach of a three-week-old ceasefire.
Soldiers loyal to rebel general Laurent Nkunda and Mai Mai militiamen exchanged gunfire in towns northwest of Goma, the capital of Nord-Kivu province, a local official said.
"Three (Mai Mai fighters) are injured, one of them seriously," said the official, Michel Munyamariba, adding that hundreds of villagers had been forced to flee their homes.
A peace deal committing the government, Nkunda's forces and other rebel militias to an immediate ceasefire was signed on January 23 in Goma aimed at bringing an end to the long-running conflict in the region.
Since then several small-scale clashes in and around Nord-Kivu, usually involving the local Mai Mai groups and Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), have been reported. - Sapa-AFP