Congolese army and UN peacekeeping troops carried out a "cordon and search" operation on Monday in the militia strongholds of the embattled northeastern district of Ituri, killing scores of militiamen.

Two more battalions of the Congolese Armed Forces have arrived in Bunia, the main town in the northeastern district of Ituri, ahead of their deployment to formerly militia-occupied territories of Mahagi and Aru, an army liaison officer told IRIN on Tuesday.

The UN Security Council extended an embargo on arms and military financing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday, to include a travel ban on violators and the freezing of their assets.

Two militiamen and a civilian died on Friday after a seven-hour shootout between Congolese national army troops and Union patriotiques de congolais (UPC) militias in a gold-rich territory of the northeastern district of Ituri, displacing thousands of people.

The Union des patriotes Congolais (UPC), one of the major militia groups in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, announced on Wednesday an end to its insurrection in the district of Ituri.

Two groups of international experts analysing the transitional peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is set to end with national elections in June, have said the country could instead descend to another war.

The remaining 416 militiamen of the Forces armees du peuple congolais (FAPC) surrendered their guns to UN troops on Wednesday, effectively dismantling the movement and boosting efforts to pacify the troubled Ituri District in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In line with new efforts by the UN mission and the government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to dismantle militias in the troubled northeastern district of Ituri, local authorities announced on Monday the arrest of Kahwa Panga Mandro.

The disarmament effort of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as MONUC, has brought almost 3,000 minors into the care of child-protection agencies working in the northeastern district of Ituri.

As UN peacekeeping troops increase the pressure to disarm the militias of Ituri, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), their reintegration into society is beset by many problems.