Congo, U.N. Troops Battle Militia for Control of Region

U.N. and Congolese forces launched a major operation against a militia Thursday to try to assert government control over the lawless east, days after a landmark vote on a postwar constitution, the world body said.

A United Nations spokesman said a government soldier and seven militiamen were killed when hundreds of Nepalese U.N. peacekeepers and about 1,500 Congolese soldiers, backed by helicopter gunships, clashed with militiamen near Fataki in Ituri province.

Maj. Hans-Jakob Reichen, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeepers, said the militiamen were Lendu fighters who refused to join a U.N.-backed disarmament process and are accused of atrocities against civilians.

Another U.N. official said nine Congolese troops were killed in fighting Wednesday with another ethnic militia near Boga.

The clashes highlighted insecurity in the eastern part of the country days after millions voted in the first free national poll in four decades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire.

The latest results, released Thursday, showed that with tallies in from nearly 60% of polling stations, the yes vote exceeded 80%, which appeared to guarantee the adoption of a constitution paving the way for elections in 2006.