Two soldiers and 21 militia fighters were killed over three days of clashes in northeastern DR Congo's restive Ituri province, the army said Monday.

The armed forces, known as FARDC, said it launched an offensive which began Friday after several attacks by a dissident wing of the Cooperation for the Development of Congo (CODECO), a notorious armed group.

Two soldiers were killed and four were wounded in Walendu Tatsi, east of the provincial capital of Bunia, according to Lieutenant-General Philemon Yav.

He said the area was under the control of loyalist forces after the clashes which lasted until Sunday, forcing a large number of residents to flee over the weekend.

CODECO agreed to suspend attacks on its ethnic rivals after President Felix Tshisekedi sent a group of former warlords to Ituri in August.

The armed political-religious sect has been blamed for the massacre of hundreds of civilians since December 2017.

Experts say CODECO brings together several sects of militia fighters who claim to defend the property rights of ethnic Lendu farming communities in the Djugu territory.

Conflict erupted between the Lendu, and the Hema, herders and traders, in the gold-mining and oil-rich Ituri province between 1999 and 2003, killing tens of thousands.

The militia has been divided for several months however, and some fighters have shunned the group's commitment with the government to surrender arms.

Yav on Monday called on CODECO fighters favourable to the peace process "to avoid any political manipulation".

A peace agreement was also signed earlier this year with another armed group in the province, the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Force (FRPI), formerly active in the south in Irumu territory.

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