A peacekeeper from Bangladesh was killed and five others wounded when their convoy came under fire on Thursday in the Ituri district of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said.

The attack occurred in a lawless region where the world body has taken a more aggressive stance against militia fighters since nine peacekeepers were killed there in February. However, much of the district is still ruled by warlords.

About 20 members of a local militia attacked some 40 Bangladeshi blue helmets as they returned to their base from a surveillance mission in a convoy of two armored personnel carriers and four jeeps, UN officials said.

Three soldiers were injured when their jeep overturned and another three were hit by gunfire, and one of these died of his wounds a few hours later, the officials said. They had earlier said seven peacekeepers were hurt in the attack.

The ambush took place in Congo's Geti region 33 miles southeast of Bunia, the regional capital.

A UN helicopter gunship flew to the site and opened fire on the gunmen. It later brought the wounded back to Bunia.

Ethnic militias have killed more than 60,000 civilians in Ituri since 1999 -- the year the current UN force, known by its French acronym MONUC, was established in Congo.

The FRPI militia, one of five ethnic armed groups in Ituri, was thought to have carried out the attack, UN spokeswoman Rachel Eklou said by phone from Bunia.

The United Nations said in March that FRPI fighters had kidnapped hundreds of civilians from rival ethnic groups, decapitating some, torturing others and forcing some to work as porters or sex slaves.

The February killing of nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Ituri was the worst single loss suffered by the UN peace mission since 1999. Just days after the attack, UN soldiers killed at least 50 militiamen in a fierce battle.

More than 9,000 militiamen in Ituri have handed in their weapons in a regional disarmament drive. Analysts say that only the hardcore leaders of the ethnic Hema UPC and Lendu FRPI militia groups remain and will have to be disarmed by the United Nations and new Congolese army.

Instability in Ituri has cast a cloud over the former Belgian colony's efforts to recover from a wider 5-year war. The United Nations says at least 100,000 civilians have been driven from their homes in the area by fighting between militia groups and attacks on civilians.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies May 13, 2005)