An armed group of mostly Rwandan Hutus in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is accused of killing 18 civilians, mutilating 11 others and taking around 50 hostages on Monday.

A Soviet-era aircraft carrying 21 passengers and five crew crashed on Wednesday in a remote forest in the territory of Walungu, in Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu Province.

Two militiamen died on Tuesday during fighting between local Mayi-Mayi militiamen recently integrated into the new national army and members of the Presidential Guard in Kisangani, the provincial capital Orientale, according to the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUC.

The number of Rwandan refugees returning home from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has increased dramatically since a Rwandan rebel group announced recently that it would disarm and go home peacefully, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Tuesday.

The UN is mediating among political parties in Mbuji-Mayi, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Kasai Oriental Province, following last week's violence.

Some 1,600 internally displaced people (IDPs) began their journey home on Thursday along the mighty River Congo, from Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the provinces of Equateur and Orientale, according to a UN official.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named a five-member panel of experts to monitor an arms embargo the UN has imposed against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to a letter from Annan to the UN Security Council, dated 17 May.

Rwandan Hutu rebels based in eastern Congo are responsible for hundreds of summary executions, rapes, beatings and hostage-taking of Congolese civilians in the territory of Walungu, South Kivu Province, the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUC, said on Wednesday in a report documenting the human rights violations.

Police imposed a curfew beginning late Tuesday in Mbuji-Mayi, a major mining town in central Democratic Republic of Congo, following violent demonstrations in which at least two people died and 12 others were wounded.

South African officials are due to provide technical and financial aid to public service institutions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over a three-year period, a government minister said on Tuesday.