At least three government soldiers were killed in an attack by dissident militiamen of former general Laurent Nkunda a Sake, 20 km. from Goma said the Armed Forces of the dem. Rep. of Congo (FARDC).

There was also an unspecified number of wounded. The spokesman for the Un mission (MONUC), Kemal Saiki, told MISNA that reconnaissance helicopters have been sent to the area and that peacekeepers have tightened security to support the 11th brigade of the army. Saiki, added that there is also news of a large number of civilians fleeing the fighting.

It seems the attack was carried out with heavy weapons and mortars against fixed army positions, which were recently formed by integrating former rebels involved in the 1998-2003 conflict. Nkunda, a former Tutsi general supported by Rwanda, is wanted internationally for 'war crimes' perpetrated in Bukavu (South Kivu) in 2004. Since that time, he has been moving about the forests of the Masisi, such that neither MONUC nor the army has been able to disarm him.