Rwandan military officials say Hutu extremists based in eastern Congo crossed into Rwanda on Tuesday and launched attacks in several villages near the border.

A military spokesman blamed the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda for the attack, which led to clashes with Rwandan military forces.

However, Reuters news agency reports the FDLR, which opposes Rwanda's Tutsi-led government, has denied involvement in any fighting.

Rwanda said the attackers numbered at least 100, were repulsed and fled back into the DRC or into Rwanda.

This new unrest in eastern Congo comes a week after Congolese rebel group M23 seized the city of Goma, near the Congolese-Rwandan border.

The group, comprised mainly of Tutsi army defectors, defied a Monday deadline to withdraw from Goma that had been set by regional leaders.