AlQa'dah 20, 1434, Sep 26, 2013, SPA -- The United Nations said Thursday that renewed fighting has broken out in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between M23 rebels and the Congolese army. Alexandre Essome, a spokesman for the U.N. mission in eastern DRC, said new violence erupted near the town of Mabenga, north of the regional capital of Goma. Omar Kavota, a spokesman for a local civil-society group, said rebels had attacked Mabenga overnight and later assaulted two other communities in the area. M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa, however, said it was government forces and their allies who had attacked first.
