(CNN) -- U.N. gunships battled rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, according to U.N. spokesman Michele Bonnardeaux. U.N. vehicles on Monday pass between lines of civilians fleeing fighting north of Goma, Congo. U.N. helicopter gunships, supporting national army forces on the ground, fired on rebels from the Congress for the Defense of the People in an effort to halt their advance on the village of Kibumba. CNDP is the French acronym for National Congress for the Defense of the People, a Congolese rebel group under renegade general Laurent Nkunda. The village of Kibumba is the location of a U.N.-administered internally displaced peoples camp, just 12 ½ miles (20 kilometers) north of the provincial capital, Goma, Bonnardeaux said.
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NEW: U.N. helicopters attack rebels north of Goma to stop advancement
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U.N. military commander in Congo resigns for "personal reasons"
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Thousands of protesters attack U.N.'s eastern Congo HQ with rocks, stones
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The attack has resulted in several deaths, an official said
A U.N. spokesman said the U.N.'s mission in @placeholder was "under attack" on Monday.