KINSHASA (Reuters) - Clashes between a tribal militia and security forces in a province of central Congo killed at least 31 people at the weekend, its vice governor said on Monday.

Hubert Mbingho N’Vula said on state TV that the conflict in Kasaï province started after a row between an uncle and a nephew over who had the title to a local chieftaincy, before Congolese forces stepped in to try to restore order.

“(The uncle) resorted to raising a militia,” N’Vula said, adding that 13 security forces and 18 militiamen had been killed.

More than a decade after a 1996-2003 war that killed millions, the mineral-rich country remains a tinderbox of armed groups and ethnic militias.</s>DR Congo has been wracked by recent violence sparked by a political crisis brought on by the postponing of a presidential election which had been due to take place before the end of the year.

The fighting was due to rivalry between the newly named traditional chief and his uncle, "who came to oust his nephew and seize power", an interior ministry official said.

At least 31 people died in weekend clashes triggered by tribal rivalry in Congo's central Tshikapa region, the deputy governor of Kasai province said on Monday.

Fighting from Friday to Sunday between police and troops on the one hand and members of a local militia on the other left "13 dead and 14 injured among security forces" and "18 dead" militia fighters, Hubert Mbingho N'Vula said on state television.

Earlier in the day he had given the militia toll as just 10 fighters.

The fighting was due to rivalry between the newly named traditional chief and his uncle, "who came to oust his nephew and seize power", an interior ministry official told AFP.

Exact details of the weekend bloodshed are sketchy but a local official said a group of police and soldiers had been hacked to death on Friday night by the militia members in a village around 30km from Tshikapa who them made off with the troops' weapons.

Fighting between the militia and government forces lasted throughout Saturday night and a large part of Sunday.

Kasai is a particularly isolated and under-developed region in Democratic Republic of Congo.

DR Congo has been wracked by recent violence sparked by a political crisis brought on by the postponing of a presidential election which had been due to take place before the end of the year.

A week ago, at least 34 civilians were killed when a Nande ethnic militia attacked and burnt down a Hutu village in the north east of the country.</s>Antananarivo. Controversial moves to extend Congolese President Joseph Kabila’s stay in power appeared to advance Sunday as a close ally said elections would not be held until April 2018, 16 months after Kabila was due to leave office.

Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda also warned that the political opposition in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has urged Kabila to step down on December 20 when his term officially ends, could foment violent.

Tshibanda, speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Madagascar, said that Kabila’s government had “consulted election experts” from Congo, the United Nations and elsewhere, and that “it has been decided that the voter registration operation will end on July 31, 2017. (AFP)</s>Controversial moves to extend Congolese President Joseph Kabila's stay in power appeared to advance Sunday as a close ally said elections would not be held until April 2018, 16 months after Kabila was due to leave office.

Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda also warned that the political opposition in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has urged Kabila to step down on December 20 when his term officially ends, could foment violent.

Tshibanda, speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Madagascar, said that Kabila's government had "consulted election experts" from Congo, the United Nations and elsewhere, and that "it has been decided that the voter registration operation will end on July 31, 2017 and that elections will take place in April 2018".

"Before that no expert thinks it will be possible" to organise a vote, he said.

Kabila, who has been elected to two presidential terms, is barred from serving again but has never said he plans to step aside.

Earlier this month he cut a power-sharing deal, appointing fringe opposition politician Samy Badibanga as prime minister in a move that effectively extends his term to at least late 2017.

In September, during protests organised by the Gathering against the delayed elections, 53 people were killed, according to a UN toll. Congolese authorities have banned further rallies including one last week.

"It is clear that not all political actors are acting responsibly, and that some of them are practising politics of the worst kind", Tshibanda said.

He said he "cannot exclude that there might be attempts at violence", and warned that "the Congolese government will act accordingly".

Kabila came to power after the murder of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila by a bodyguard in 2001 during the Second Congo War, which ended two years later.

Elected in 2006, he went on to win a second five-year term in a 2011 vote decried as rigged by the opposition.

"The head of state cannot leave the capital when he is in the middle of consultations to form a government," the foreign minister said.
At least 31 are killed in clashes in Kasai, DR Congo.