Rwandan anti-governmental forces attacked two villages in Congo's eastern province of South Kivu, leaving 17 people dead and 19 others wounded or missing, a UN-backed radio station reported on Sunday.

Radio Okapi said that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda cracked down on the two villages in Kanyola, an area some 50 km west of the provincial capital Bukavu.

The report said the attackers carrying machetes rushed into the villages, ransacking the villages and kidnapping some villagers.

The dead include some women and children, and the wounded were rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment.

On May 20, six trucks were attacked by the Hutu-dominated Rwandan rebel movement in the province of North Kivu. Four civilians and one officer of the Congolese army were killed on the spot, and 20 others wounded.

Several weeks ago, the Congolese army and UN peacekeepers carried out joint operations in the eastern region against the anti-governmental forces, while the rebels attacked local villages in retaliation.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2007)