Soldiers fought with about 1,000 armed men near the border town of Bukavu, said United Nations officials.
As many as 13 people have died there in recent days of fighting. Thousands more people have fled into Rwanda.
Among the dead are seven civilians and a UN peacekeeper.
Using armoured vehicles and helicopters, a UN peacekeeping force is patrolling Bukavu, which had been looted and the electricity cut off.
The UN says the armed men are loyal to a suspended military officer, Col. Jules Mutebusi.
Mutebusi is a former commander in the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), rebel group that joined a power-sharing government in 2003. RCD troops, along with soldiers from other rebel groups in the government, are being integrated into the country's new armed forces.
In July 1999, the DRC, Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe signed the Lusaka ceasefire agreement to work toward peace in the war-torn region.
Also this weekend, the growing violence forced a Canadian rock band to leave Congo. Toronto-area band Sum 41 had been filming a documentary for the aid organization War Child.
The band's four members made it safely out of the country.
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