Country's army kills 16 Ugandan rebels

A Congolese military spokesman has said that 16 Ugandan Islamist rebels were killed over the weekend in fierce fighting.

Army spokesman for the operation,  Major Victor Masandi said 4 Congolese government soldiers were also killed in Sunday's fighting, which took place in Kokola, about 40 km north of Beni.

According to him:

"The toll from the battle is 16 ADF killed, six AK-47s recovered,"

According to Reuters, Congolese forces launched Operation Sukola I early last year against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who are accused of massacring some 300 villagers near the town of Beni in North Kivu province between October and December.

The ADF was formed in the 1990s to fight the Ugandan government but has since transformed into a secretive Islamist group that now operates on the Congolese side of the border, where it is active in the illicit trade in timber and gold.

Reports say overnight attacks on civilians blamed on the rebels have declined since the army stepped up operations against the group late last year, though dozens of civilians have still died this year in similar massacres.

Eastern Congo, where a 1998-2003 conflict resulted in millions of deaths, remains plagued by dozens of armed groups that prey on the local population and exploit its vast reserves of gold, tin and diamonds.