UN forces have joined government troops of the Democratic Republic of Congo to fight Ugandan rebels in the latest move to restore order in the east of the country, and 35 rebels were killed in the ongoing operation, the United Nations said on Sunday.

An Indian peacekeeper was killed and four others were injured, while three Congolese government soldiers were killed and 16 injured in the operation.

The latest fighting began on Saturday around 30 km south of Beni in North Kivu district after fighters of the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces/National Army for the Liberation of Uganda ignored an ultimatum to negotiate voluntary repatriation, UN military spokesman Major Hans-Jakob Reichen said.

The militiamen have been accused of undermining the peace process in the country by raping, pillaging and murdering civilians.

Since a war broke out in 1998 in the DR Congo, nearly 4 million people have died, mostly from war-related hunger and diseases.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2005)