DR Congo clashes claim 15 lives

BUKAVU, Dec 03 (AFP): Fifteen people have been killed in eastern DR Congo in clashes between troops and rebels loyal to a former general, the army said on Monday.

It said the fighting was continuing Monday in Fizi, a region of South Kivu, a mineral-rich province which is prone to ethnic tensions.

The unrest is another front in the push by rebels to oust President Joseph Kabila as the poverty-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo limps towards a much-delayed presidential election slated for December 23.

"The rebels have already lost 12 fighters, including the commander Alida," the deputy head of the rebels, an army spokesman in the region, Captain Dieudonne Kaserek, told AFP.