Congo (DRC)

UN helicopters killed seven people in a rocket attack on rebels trying to seize an army camp in the Congo's (DRC) North Kivu province, a UN military spokesman said Sept. 30. Most of the government soldiers based in Lwibo, in Masisi territory, had left the camp to get their pay when Rwandan FDLR rebels and local Mai Mai militia fighters attacked their base early on Sept. 29. "The (Congolese army) asked us for aerial assistance. Our attack helicopters fired five rockets, killing seven elements," said Lt. Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich, military spokesman for Congo's UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC. Congolese army officials said eight enemy fighters had been killed in the air strike and a government counter-attack. (Reuters)