Fresh fighting has broken out in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Laurent Nkunda's rebel forces and pro-government milita clashed for a second day running, threatening a ceasefire which had enabled aid workers to reach the thousands of displaced people trapped by the fighting.
A UN military spokesman said fighting, which broke out yesterday at Kiwanja in eastern part of the country, resumed today with the rebels accusing the government of breaking the ceasefire.
‘The ceasefire has already been broken,’ Bertrand Bisimwa, a spokesman for the rebels loyal to renegade General Nkunda, said.
He said the rebel side would respond to any attacks by the government launched from the North Kivu provincial capital Goma, which is some 70km south of where today's clashes are taking place.
There was no immediate reaction from the government.
Mr Nkunda declared a ceasefire last week, halting a major advance towards Goma.
No details of casualties from the latest fighting are immediately available.
It is not clear whether the Kiwanja clashes will lead to wider hostilities between Mr Nkunda's rebels and government forces facing each other in North Kivu.
The combat is taking place near Rutshuru, where aid agencies are trying to reach tens of thousands of hungry, civilians who have fled the fighting in North Kivu.
A unit of Indian and Uruguayan peacekeepers have a position at Rutshuru.
