Peacekeepers in DR Congo's northeast exchange gunfire with militants: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) exchanged gunfire with militants in the country's northeastern Ituri Province, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

There were no reports of casualties in the exchange of fire on Wednesday.

Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the UN mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, on Wednesday dispatched a patrol of peacekeepers after receiving reports of shots fired at Pangapanga village in Ituri's central Djugu territory. DRC troops joined the patrol.

"Upon reaching the village, peacekeepers and Congolese troops exchanged fire with militants from the armed group known as CODECO, forcing them to withdraw," Dujarric said. "A second patrol was subsequently dispatched to the area."

While there were no further details on the Pangapanga skirmish, there are published reports of rebel CODECO raids earlier this month in Djugu territory where more than 30 people, including civilians, were killed.

CODECO is the acronym for the Cooperative Development of the Congo, a loose group of political and religious militias of the Lendu ethnic group. It is regarded as one of the most deadly of the more than 100 militias operating in the mineral-rich eastern DRC.