Violent clashes between rebels and soldiers in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of Congo have left 40 people dead, government and military officials said Thursday.
Fighting broke out between Mai-Mai militia and government troops on Wednesday in the town of Beni, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, Colonel Richard Bisamaza said.
Government spokesman Lambert Mende told a press conference that 32 militia fighters were killed as well as eight soldiers.
Bisamaza earlier told press the Mai Mai attacked army buildings to try to free a number of their colleagues who had been arrested and were being held there.
However, they fled after an hour of exchanging gunfire.
DR Congo has ramped up its efforts to tackle these armed movements.
The first troops of a 3,000-strong African intervention brigade created by the UN Security Council to take on the armed groups, arrived in the country earlier this week.
The brigade will assist the UN force known as MONUSCO already present in the country.
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