Congo rebels attack government forces in east

KINSHASA, Nov 25 (Reuters) Fighters loyal to a dissident general attacked army positions in eastern Congo with heavy weapons and small arms on Saturday, said the government and the United Nations.

The attack, after months of relative calm in Congo's east, occurred amid tensions in the capital Kinshasa where supporters of a former rebel chief are protesting against President Joseph Kabila's victory in last month's presidential run-off election.

''Our military positions in Sake have been coming under attack from (rebel general Laurent) Nkunda since early this morning. Our brigade there is fighting back,'' Congolese Interior Minister Denis Kalume told Reuters.

The United Nations -- which has a peacekeeping force in Congo -- confirmed the attack on Sake, the front line between rebel and government forces some 20 km west of the provincial capital of North Kivu and close to the Rwanda border.

A UN military source said a brigade of Congo's army, made up of different factions from the country's 1998-2003 civil war, had come under attack in Sake.

''Small arms as well as heavy weapons, including RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and mortars, are being used,'' said the source, who declined to be named. ''We have patrols on the ground and should be able to contain it.'' Conflict in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced tens of thousands of people despite a 2003 peace deal which officially ended the civil war.

Reuters BDP VV1251