BENI, DR Congo: Congolese troops and United Nations peacekeepers fired live rounds to disperse hundreds of people protesting outside a UN base in the eastern Congolese town of Beni on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said.

Crowds gathered at the UN base calling for peacekeepers to leave the town after two people were shot dead on Tuesday during a protest over the UN mission’s failure to stem violence blamed on Ugandan rebels that has killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks.

A Reuters witness said peacekeepers and Congolese troops fired into the air to disperse crowds at Beni airport, where the UN force has a base. The reporter said there were a number of injuries.

A spokesman for the UN mission did not comment on the shooting at the base but said an enquiry had been opened into an incident involving a joint Congolese-UN patrol on Tuesday.

Congolese authorities were not available for comment.

Angelus Kavutirwaki, spokesman for local civil society groups in Beni, said youth had blocked the streets of the Mbaw neighborhood on Tuesday night in frustration that peacekeepers had not done more to prevent recent killings by the rebels.