Army attacks DRC rebels on its own

Kinshasa - Government forces launched strikes against Rwandan Hutu rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, military officials said, in the first combat since last month's announcement of a campaign to stamp out the group.

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), whose ranks include former soldiers and Hutu militiamen responsible for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, have been at the centre of nearly two decades of violence in eastern Congo.

Tuesday's fighting took place in South Kivu province in the hills inland from the lakeside town of Uvira, which sits some 10km from the border with Burundi, Espérant Masudi, the provincial commander of operations, told Reuters.