Congolese troops have killed at least 23 Rwandan Hutu militiamen who attacked them at two locations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo over the weekend, the local military commander said on Sunday.
"In fighting that has continued since yesterday morning, we have killed at least 23 rebels and seized some arms," General Obedi Rwibasira told Reuters from the border town of Goma, 50 km south of the scene of the initial fighting.
"But they (the rebels) also attacked my troops in Kingi, 40 km west of Goma, during the night," he added, without giving further details of the second attack.
Rwibasira blamed the attacks on the Interahamwe, Hutu militias who fled Rwanda after they took part in the 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Thousands of Rwandan Hutu rebels have remained in eastern Congo since then and Rwanda has invaded Congo twice, in 1996 and 1998, arguing it has an obligation to hunt them down.
Rwandan troops officially withdrew after peace deals were signed in 2002 but Kigali has repeatedly threatened to return if neither Congolese forces nor UN peacekeepers disarm the estimated 10,000 rebels who remain in the east.
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