In the Democratic Republic of Congo, government troops backed by United Nations peacekeepers have begun to drive out Rwandan rebels a month after a deadline for their pullout expired.

A U.N. military spokesman says the aim of the joint operation is to clear out as many as 5,000 Rwandan Hutu rebels who have set up camp in Virunga National Park in North Kivu province. The rebels promised in March they would disarm and return home by the end of October.

But few have done so, asking the Rwandan government for more guarantees. An estimated 10,000 Rwandan rebels are believed to be in eastern Congo. They fled to Congo after helping orchestrate Rwanda's 1994 genocide.