Democratic Republic of Congo: Government says its troops killed 120 M23 rebels in North Kivu
The Democratic Republic of Congo says its forces have killed 120 rebels and captured another dozen in fighting in North Kivu province.
Government spokesman Lambert Mende said Monday that about 10 army soldiers have died in the fighting north of Goma, the provincial capital.
The United Nations mission in Congo says it started Sunday when the M23, which holds territory near Goma, attacked government troops near the towns of Mutaho and Rusayo.
Inhabitants of a village in the eastern DRC say they saw armed men in women’s clothing enter the country from Rwanda on Sunday, shortly before fighting broke out near their village. The fighting continued Monday eight kilometers north of Goma, a city on the Congolese-Rwandan border.
This was the first heavy fighting at the front lines between government forces and the rebel group M23 since late May.