By Helen Vesperini BBC correspondent in Kongolo

The Rwandan Army has begun the second phase of its withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of Congo under the terms of the latest peace deal.

The troops sweated as they loaded anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers onto a Russian-built cargo plane at an airport in the east of the country.

Even as the first plane left the airstrip in a storm of red dust, non-governmental organisations were preparing to send some of their staff out of the region temporarily for security reasons.

Renewed fighting

The events in Kindu - the town that Rwandan forces left on Thursday - are unlikely to reassure them.

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Heavy shooting broke out there hours after the Rwandan forces withdrew.

After a day of relative calm on Friday, inhabitants reported renewed fighting on Saturday.

They said it pitted the Congolese rebels who now control Kindu against Mayi Mayi tribal militia.

Over the coming days Rwandan forces will leave four towns in northern Katanga - Kalemie, Kongolo, Kabalo and Nyunzu.

They will then start on what is probably the trickiest leg of the operation - the pull-out from the Kivu provinces which border Rwanda and which are home to militia responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.