KINSHASA, 25 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Unidentified gunmen shot and wounded several UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an ambush on Friday in the village of Kafe, in the northeastern district of Ituri.

"According to military sources, there could be deaths among the UN forces, but we are not able at this point to determine the number and their nationalities," Mamadou Bah, a spokesman for MONUC, told IRIN in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa.

Kafe is close to the village of Tche where Front nationaliste integrationiste (FNI) militiamen have been attacking and burning down rural villages in the last two months. Tche is 60 km north of Bunia, the main town in Ituri.

The UN-supported Radio Okapi reported that the head of MONUC and special representative of the UN Secretary-General in the country, William Swing, had decided to increase the number of peacekeepers in Ituri.

At the moment there is a UN brigade of peacekeepers stationed in Bunia.