Fighting erupted between the Congolese army and rebels in the troubled east of the country for a third straight day on Wednesday, further rattling an uneasy peace as UN chief Ban Ki-moon began a visit to the country. Residents of nearby refugee camps have been fleeing in their hundreds since Monday when fresh clashes broke out between M23 rebels and government troops near the strategic eastern city of Goma, the first fighting since December.

A fresh bout of fighting between army and rebel forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has left 19 dead, the government said Tuesday, on the eve of a visit by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. Mortar fire rang out for a second day north of the regional hub Goma after the first clashes in six months between the M23 rebellion that briefly seized the city in November and government troops broke out on Monday. Government spokesman Lambert Mende told journalists that Monday's fighting had left 15 rebels dead and 21 injured, while four soldiers were killed and six injured.

Rebels from the M23 movement and the army fought Monday just north of Goma, a regional capital in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo which the rebels occupied briefly last November, both sides said. The fighting was the first involving M23 since December and erupted just two days before UN chief Ban Ki-moon was due to visit the region, including Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. The clashes also came a week after the first troops from a new UN intervention brigade arrived in the country with a strong mandate to attack rebel groups.

Rebels from the M23 movement and the army fought Monday just north of Goma, a regional capital in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that the rebels had occupied briefly in November, both sides said. An M23 spokesman, Amani Kabasha, said the clashes were taking place 12 kilometres (7.4 miles) north of Goma. Colonel Olivier Hamuli, spokesman for the DRC's armed forces, confirmed the fighting was taking place, without saying if there were casualties.