Fifteen people were killed during five days of clashes between armed militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo's restive east, before the army intervened, local officials said today. "Five civilians and two members of the 'Guidon' group were killed Monday in clashes in Kamiro," said Cosmas Kangakolo, administrator of the Masisi territory in the North Kivu province.

A further eight civilians were killed and others were injured between Friday and Tuesday in clashes between Lukweti and Nyabiondo, he told AFP. North Kivu has served as a base for Hutu rebels since the genocide of Tutsis by majority Hutus in neighbouring Rwanda in 1994. The region has long been at the centre of conflict in DR Congo and of tensions in the wider African Great Lakes region.