Clashes rock northern DR Congo

KINSHASA (AFP) - Clashes between local militia and government forces in northern Democratic Republic of Congo sent 2,000 people fleeing into neighbouring Uganda, various sources said Friday.

TOP Congo FM radio said armed men had attacked a border post, a military base, the police station and the courthouse in the town of Kasindi at dawn Friday.

The radio said government troops had beaten off the attack while Ugandan authorities closed the border.

A United Nations source said there were no casualties but the daily bulletin of civil society groups in Nord Kivu province reported an army lieutenant and another government soldier killed.

The region has been the scene of years of deadly unrest pitting government troops against a host of different insurgent groups, the latest being mutineers from the army calling themselves the M23 movement, who have taken a string of towns along the border with Uganda.

Uganda is hosting a summit of regional leaders next week in Kampala aimed at resolving the current instability in the DR Congo.