The first attack, in which three people were killed, occurred as the UN convoy was returning from a resupply mission north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, when assailants set four trucks on fire, the statement from MONUSCO said.

After vehicles were set on fire, the crowd tried to break into a container containing weapons and the peacekeepers opened fire, killing five people.

Goma is the epicenter of fierce clashes between DRC Army and the M23 militia, made up of members of the Tutsi ethnic group, which, according to the DRC government, are supported by Rwanda, its eastern neighbor in an attempt to seize the mineral wealth of its eastern portion.

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