29/08/13 VOA: Peacekeeper Killed as UN Battles Rebels in Congo

 A U.N. spokesman in New York, Farhan Haq, said
three other peacekeepers were wounded in Wednesday's fighting near the eastern
city of Goma, capital of North
Kivu province.

Haq says U.N. helicopters assisted the Congolese army as it attacked M23
positions in Kibati, north of Goma. He said the attack targeted hillside
positions from which the rebels had shelled civilians.

A reporter for VOA's Somali Service in Goma said both sides took casualties in
the fighting, and it appeared neither side gained any ground.

The United Nations, which has a large peacekeeping operation in Congo, recently
deployed an "Intervention Brigade" to fight rebel groups in the east
and help stabilize the volatile region.

U.N. peacekeepers previously clashed Friday with M23, when they fired at the
rebels outside Goma after rebel artillery shells killed two civilians.

The DRC's minister of health, Felix Kabange, visited wounded soldiers and
civilians in a Goma hospital Wednesday and promised that the government will
bring peace to the region.

M23 briefly took control of Goma last year and still controls parts of North Kivu province. The group is made up of former
rebels who were integrated into the Congolese army in a 2009 peace agreement,
but later deserted after complaining of discrimination and poor treatment.