KIBUMBA, Congo - Rebels and UN officials say fighters of a renegade general have seized a major army camp in eastern Congo in heavy fighting that sent thousands of civilians fleeing.

Refugees say an unknown number of soldiers, rebels following Gen. Laurent Nkunba, and civilians have been killed.

Government troops raced to reinforce a counterattack Sunday morning and one tank careened into a group of fleeing civilians and killed three teenage boys.

Associated Press reporters who watched the fathers burying their sons in a cabbage patch at Kibumba could hear bombing from army tanks about 12 miles from the Rumangabo army camp.

It is the second time rebels have seized the army base since fighting resumed Aug. 28 in North Kivu province.