Jean-Pierre Lacroix, United Nations peacekeeping chief, is welcome by U.N peacekeepers upon his arrival at Mavivi airport in Beni eastern Congo, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. The United Nations peacekeeping chief says the UN mission in Congo will pursue the Allied Democratic Forces rebels who killed 15 peacekeepers there earlier this month. (Photo: AP)

Congo’s army spokesman says rebels have burned homes and a car in a neighborhood in the east of the country where UN peacekeeping forces have a base.

The attack late Friday into Saturday comes days after eight UN peacekeepers and at least 12 Congolese soldiers were killed in a joint military operation against the Allied Democratic Forces rebels in their Kididiwe stronghold near Beni.

Capt. Mak Hazukay Mongha said Saturday that three houses and a car were burned overnight in the Boikene neighborhood.

Congo’s volatile east is home to many armed groups vying for control of the mineral-rich region. A week of intense fighting has displaced many.

The area is also facing a deadly Ebola outbreak.

Since October 2014, ADF fighters have killed more than 1,500 people in Beni region.