KINSHASA (AFP) - The commander of government troops fighting Ugandan Islamist rebels in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo was killed on Thursday in an ambush, government spokesman Lambert Mende said.

"Colonel Mamadou Ndala has been killed... Apparently it was the ADF-Nalu (Ugandan rebel force) that killed him and two of his bodyguards. This is really an immense loss for the armed forces and the republic," Mende told AFP.