A UN spokeswoman has said peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have used helicopter gunships to attack fighters trying to take a village north of Goma.
Sylvie van den Wildenberg said on Monday that the troops had fired at rebel forces advancing on Kibumba – about 45km north of Goma.
The UN has maintained a 17,000-strong force – the largest in its peacekeeping operations – in Africa’s largest and mineral-rich country since armed conflict there started in 1998.

KINSHASA, – Congolese rebels launched a new offensive on Sunday, defying the U.N. Security Council and for the first time seizing the headquarters of a park that is home to many of the world’s last mountain gorillas, officials said.
The U.N. Security Council condemned Congolese Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda last week for calling for a national rebellion, and urged all armed groups in the huge country’s violent eastern provinces to lay down their arms.

KINSHASA, – Democratic Republic of Congo created new senior defence and reconstruction posts in a new government named on Sunday, but other key portfolios such as mines and finance were unchanged, state television said.
A decree from President Joseph Kabila read out on TV named a new defence minister and created a new post of deputy prime minister for defence and security, bolstering the focus on security on a day eastern rebels launched a fresh offensive.

GOMA, Congo – The United Nations says rebels have fired rockets at two vehicles carrying peacekeepers during heavy fighting in Congo.
U.N. spokesman Col. Samba Tall says some soldiers were slightly injured and both vehicles were damaged in the attack on Sunday.