VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Congo (AP) -- Hundreds of government troops backed by U.N. peacekeepers began flushing heavily armed Rwandan rebels from eastern Congo on Monday, destroying insurgent camps and sending smoke rising above the restive region.The operation in North Kivu province involving 2,000 Congolese troops and 500 peacekeepers was the first time Congo's government has used force against the Hutu rebels since a deadline for the departure of all foreign armed groups expired a month ago. At least a dozen rebels were captured.Residents in eastern Congo lauded the mission, saying the foreign fighters had stolen from locals and harassed them."The Rwandans attacked us every day. They stole our sweet potatoes, peanuts and bananas. They even took our women," said Semikore Sebagabo, a 44-year old father of six. "My children have seen too much war, too much fighting, death and killing. It is time for it to end. We want peace now."Thousands of ethnic Hutus from neighboring Rwanda fled to eastern Congo after taking part in the 1994 genocide of more than 500,000 people, most of them ethnic Tutsis. They then took up arms against the Tutsi-dominated government that took over in Rwanda and began fighting from Congolese bases.Rwanda has twice invaded Congo to hunt down the rebels, and in 1998 sparked a five-year war in Congo that involved six African nations and killed an estimated 4 million people.The Congolese and U.N. troops will move through Virunga National Park over the next two weeks to clear out as many as 5,000 Rwandans that still control its nearly impenetrable interior, said Col. Mayank Awasthi, the U.N. military spokesman in the North Kivu province.An estimated 15,000 total Rwandan Hutu rebels still remain in Congo along with 30,000 dependents, mostly their wives and children. Poorly paid Congolese soldiers have repeatedly failed to hunt them down.On Monday, Congolese troops fought brief gunbattles with rebels who then fled into the forests, U.N. officials said. At least five insurgent camps were dismantled and smoke could be seen rising from their direction. There were no immediate reports of casualties, the U.N. said.The government has recently stepped up pressure on loose armed groups in the run-up to Congo's first presidential elections in 45 years, due before June next year. A voluntary disarmament and repatriation program meant to get the Rwandans out has had little success. Some of the Rwandans fear reprisals if they return to their homeland."Foreign rebels must first leave Congo for peace to return to eastern Congo," Awasthi said. "The rebels are heavily armed; they have machine guns, rockets and mortar launchers. They are well-organized and difficult to disarm."Thinly spread U.N. troops have been trying to help President Kabila's transitional government control the lawless east, once the bastion of Congolese rebel groups. Though the 16,700-strong peacekeeping mission in Congo is the U.N.'s largest, progress has been slow in securing a country the size of western Europe."We have only one U.N. soldier for every 250 square kilometers of territory," said Thierry Provendier, chief military spokesman for the U.N. in Congo.Troops are also seeking to oust about 300 Congolese militia from Virunga. The militiamen have refused to surrender their arms under a national program that gives former rebels a chance to train to join the army or re-enter civilian life.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.