By Jared Kleinman

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

KINSHASA, Congo — Three United Nations workers died during clashes between the Congolese military and a militia earlier this week, the U.N. said Tuesday.

Heavily armed rebels attacked the town of Mbandaka and overran the airport, UN officials said. Fighting between the U.N.-backed military and Enyele militiamen in northern Congo began Sunday and continued into Monday.

During the two days of clashes in northern Congo, a South African pilot and a U.N. peacekeeper from Ghana were killed. The U.N. said one of its subcontractors also died Sunday of a heart attack during the fighting. Several civilians were also killed in the attack. Dr. Alexis Isanzola told The Associated Press Tuesday that 26 corpses have been received at the local mortuary in Mbandaka since Sunday.

Col. Makengo, commander of the Congo army in northern Bandaka, told The Associated Press that the army re-seized the airport on Monday with the backing of the U.N. Mission in Congo after militia took it over Sunday. He said the army would continue pursuing the militia.

The Congolese army started battling Enyele militiamen in November after fighting started between the Enyele and Munzale tribesmen. The two rival ethnic groups have reportedly been fighting for local fishing rights. The local dispute is entirely separate from the fighting between numerous armed groups in eastern DR Congo, which has drawn the world’s biggest peacekeeping operation to the country.

Mbandaka is the capital of Equateur province, where at least 100 people were killed in clashes between the Lobala and Boba communities last year, displacing an estimated 200,000 people. Between 30 and 100 fighters were believed to have been part of the latest attack.

The UN is currently in talks with DR Congo officials on withdrawing its 20,500-strong peacekeeping mission, MONUC. The mission’s current mandate expires in May. UN officials say that this new fighting might put such a withdrawal in question.

For more information, please see:

AP – UN: 3 UN Personnel Killed in North Congo clashes – 6 April 2010

Rocketnews – UN Workers Killed in DR Congo Raid – 4 April, 2010

BBC – DR Congo Attack Kills Two UN Workers – 4 April 2010