United Nations and rebel sources say fighting has flared up againbetween government and rebel troops in the eastern Democratic Republicof Congo.
A spokesman, Betrand Bisimwa, for fighters loyal torenegade General Laurent Nkunda says government troops attacked rebelpositions early Wednesday in Rugari and several other villages in NorthKivu province.
A U.N. spokesman also reported fighting in the North Kivu villages of Nyanzale and Bambo, north of the regional capital of Goma.
Heavy fighting erupted last month between DRC troops and the rebels, jeopardizing an eight-month-old peace process.
DeputyU.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood has called the recentfighting an unfortunate step backwards after General Nkunda agreed to acease-fire and pull-back earlier this month.
The spokesmansaid Tuesday that the fighting of the last several days has led tohundreds of deaths and the displacement of thousands of civilianscaught in the crossfire.
Wood called on both sides to accept adisengagement plan offered by the U.N. Mission to Congo and recommitthemselves to peace talks.
The clashes violate a cease-fire agreement signed in January between Nkunda's militia and the Congolese army.
Congo'sNorth Kivu province remains the most volatile area of a country stillrecovering from a civil war between 1998 and 2002. The war killed anestimated four million people, most of whom died from hunger anddisease.
General Nkunda formed his militia in 2004, saying heneeded to defend Tutsi civilians against Hutu rebels who are originallyfrom neighboring Rwanda.