GUNFIRE EXCHANGE BETWEEN DRC ARMY, ALLIES KILLS SEVEN. (PHOTO).

 Gunfire exchange between DRC army, allies kills seven

An exchange of fire between the Congolese army and a militia group fighting alongside it has killed up to eight civilians in the country's troubled east, sources told AFP on Tuesday.

Since 2021, the Rwanda-backed M23 militia has seized swathes of territory in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, displacing thousands and causing a humanitarian crisis.

The Congolese armed forces (FARDC) have been fighting to recover territory, backed by groups of militia known as Wazalendo.

But on Monday fire was exchanged between the Congolese army and Wazalendo in a village in North Kivu province just outside the provincial capital Goma.

"The inhabitants of the village ... were unpleasantly surprised by exchanges of fire between Wazalendo and FARDC based in this village on December 23," civil society leader Thierry Gasisiro told AFP.

He said that "seven people were shot dead, four people were injured and several damages were recorded", adding it is unknown what led to the exchange of fire or whether it was a mistake.

"We are shocked by what has happened," Gasisiro added.

A local official said there had been eight civilian fatalities as well as four deaths from the ranks of Congolese army and one Wazalendo fighter.

A military source told AFP under condition of anonymity that seven civilians had been killed including four women and one child.

The source added that the bodies of two Wazalendo fighters had also been recovered.

Last week, President Felix Tshisekedi replaced the army chief as part of a reshuffle within the armed forces.

In recent days, the rebels have again advanced and are now only around 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the town of Lubero and around 100 kilometres from the town of Butembo, a key commercial hub.

For 30 years, the mineral-rich east has suffered from the ravages of fighting between local and foreign armed groups, dating back to the regional wars of the 1990s.