Kampala

French peacekeepers have exchanged gunfire with ethnic militia fighters in the war-torn town of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A BBC reporter in Bunia said the French troops rushed in to crush a suspected incursion by ethnic Lendu fighters.

The clash came as a deadline expired for the gunmen to disarm.

Most of the ethnic Hema fighters in control of Bunia have complied, but a small number have remained to protect the leadership, the BBC reported.

The north-eastern town has been wracked by fighting between rival ethnic factions, which has killed about 500 civilians in the past two months.