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Eleven DR Congo rebels killed in Virunga park
What you need to know:
- Colonel Honore Rindugu, commander of a regiment based on DR Congo's border with Rwanda and Uganda, said the rebel death toll could be much higher.
- The soldiers killed the rebels in an ambush four days after local sources said an attack left around 30 troops dead.
Regular Democratic Republic of Congo army forces have killed at least 11 rebels of M23 group after chasing them down in the Virunga national park famous for its endangered mountain gorillas, a local commander said Sunday.
The soldiers killed the rebels in an ambush on Friday, four days after local sources said an attack left around 30 troops dead.
Colonel Honore Rindugu, commander of a regiment based on DR Congo's border with Rwanda and Uganda, said the rebel death toll could be much higher.
Rindugu said "enemy" communications intercepted by the army suggested around 30 rebels were missing.
"For now, according to our monitoring, there were 26 (M23 rebels) dead" inside the park, said local civil society leader Damien Sebuzanane. He said one government soldier was killed.
The ambush followed an attack launched on Monday night in Nyesisi, in North Kivu province near Virunga some 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the provincial capital Goma.
Members of the local Red Cross said at least 32 soldiers were killed, while the government spoke of "several" dead including a colonel.
During a memorial ceremony on Saturday, the military governor of the province, Lieutenant-General Constant Ndima, called for "vengeance", adding: "We will not give even a centimetre to the enemy."
The M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups which roam eastern DR Congo -- a legacy of regional wars more than two decades ago.
Also known as the March 23 Movement, it is a Congolese Tutsi group that was crushed in 2013 after launching a rebellion.