Congolese rebels killed 15 civilians and abducted a dozen children in an attack in the centre of the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, Congo's military said Sunday.
The violence threatened to again force the suspension of efforts to contain the virus, reports AFP.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was declared on Aug 1, and has been centred on North Kivu Province, which borders Uganda and Rwanda.
On Friday, the World Health Organisation said that there had been 118 confirmed Ebola deaths so far and 35 probably caused by the disease, out of more than 200 cases. It is the 10th outbreak in the country since 1976.
Efforts to combat the disease have been complicated by fighting between government forces and armed militias, and by attacks on medical workers.
"We condemn this attack," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organisation. "Everyone should work on achieving peace and fight Ebola."
Rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces attacked Congolese troop positions and several neighbourhoods of Beni, a city in north-eastern Congo where many new Ebola cases were reported, on Saturday and into Sunday, Capt Mak Hazukay Mongha of the Congolese Army said.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission said its troops exchanged fire with rebels in the Mayangose area of Beni.
Rebels from the group, one of several militias active in Congo's far northeast, have killed hundreds of civilians in recent years. The group has a history of cross-border fighting with the Ugandan army, attacks on peacekeepers and massacres of civilians.
Angry over the killings, Beni residents on Sunday carried four of the bodies to the town hall, where police dispersed them with tear gas. Vehicles of aid organisations and the peacekeeping mission were pelted with stones, Radio Okapi, which is supported by the United Nations, reported.
The WHO has said it is "deeply concerned" by the outbreak but that it did not yet warrant being declared a global emergency. To receive that designation, an outbreak must be "an extraordinary event" that might cross borders, requiring a coordinated response. Confirmed cases have been found near the heavily travelled border with Uganda.
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