Monday, December 26 2005 10:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kinshasa (Ugandan): Ugandan rebels yesterday (Dec 25, 2005) killed an Indian UN peacekeeping soldier and wounded four others in an attack in Nord-Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said.

"An Indian blue helmet was killed and four others wounded, one seriously when their camp at a village in Nord-Kivu was hit by an RPG 7 rocket and came under heavy fire, to which they responded forcefully," a statement from the UN mission in the DRC, MONUC, said.

The attack in the early hours of the morning (about 0900 IST) was blamed on Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels opposed to President Yoweri Museveni's regime in Uganda, across the eastern border.

The incident took place at Mukungwe, a village south of Beni in the north of the province.

"The UN soldiers came under fire as they were occupying a position to seal off the zone south of Beni, MONUC military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Frederic Medard said, adding that the UN troops fired back, driving off the attackers.

Since yesterday, 3,500 DRC government troops and 600 UN soldiers have been engaged in a joint operation to get the Ugandan rebels out of the DRC, which they use for a rear base.