Suspected Ugandan rebels killed more than 20 people overnight in their second attack near the eastern Congolese town of Beni in 48 hours.

Violence simmers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo despite the presence of UN peacekeepers and government troops, who last year defeated an insurgency by M23 rebels that posed the most serious threat to Kinshasa's authority since the central African country's last war ended in 2003.

ADF-NALU rebels, who operate in the eastern border zone, targeted the village of Byalos, according to Omar Kavota, spokesman for the Civil Society of North Kivu.