Leaders of two Mayi-Mayi militia groups in the southeastern province of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) agreed on Tuesday to disarm their combatants during a ceremonial destruction of weapons in the provincial capital, Lubumbashi.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on Wednesday that he has banned peacekeepers of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), known as MONUC, from fraternising with locals, UN News reported.

A new relief operation has begun in district of Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to help tens of thousands of people displaced by fighting in January, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported on Monday.

Armed militiamen have burnt down a village in the district of Ituri, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, forcing at least 1,500 residents to flee to nearby localities, Rudi Sterz, the interim coordinator of German Agro Action in the area told IRIN on Friday. The affected village, She, is 60 km northeast of Bunia, the main town in Ituri.

Combatants are committing human rights violations near the town of Kanyabayonga in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) despite an uneasy calm following the creation of a UN buffer zone, a UN official said on Thursday.

The first of thousands of displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Equateur province returned home as part of a pilot project being undertaken jointly by the government and the UN.

Few of the estimated 100,000 people displaced by fighting earlier this month in the province of North Kivu, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have received humanitarian aid.

The UN announced on Tuesday that it was creating a buffer zone in the province of North Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

With fresh battle fronts opening up and tens of thousands of civilians fleeing their homes, there has been mounting concern among international bodies that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is heading for a major war.

The Armed Forces High Command of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has transferred the military commander of the 8th Military Region - North Kivu Province - in a move aimed at ending clashes between factions of the army in the province.