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At least seven people have been shot dead in conflict-torn eastern DR Congo, where fighting is raging between the army and M23 rebels, local sources said Sunday.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting, which took place on Saturday evening in a camp for displaced people in North Kivu's Nyiragongo territory, remain unclear.

The camp is just north of the provincial capital Goma.

"The perpetrators have not been identified," a hospital source said, reporting that four civilians and three soldiers were killed, with 11 people wounded.

The territory's police administrator, Colonel Patrick Iduma, said "indigenous" militiamen had fired "to frighten off the displaced people occupying their plots".

Local civil society leader, Pascal Harerimana, said in a witness statement that the perpetrators "were dressed in the new uniforms of soldiers who had recently come to the front".

He added that the dead included civilians who were in a bar.

Fighting erupted again last month between the Tutsi-led M23 rebels on one side, and Congolese troops and pro-state militia fighters on the other, rupturing several months of relative calm in the volatile region

The M23 -- which is allegedly backed by Rwanda -- captured swathes of territory in North Kivu after launching a campaign in late 2021.

At least six people were killed and a dozen wounded last weekend when a "dispute" erupted between Congolese troops and pro-state militia fighters in Nyiragongo territory.

In neighbouring Masisi territory on Sunday, local sources reported fighting between the army and rebels after a few days of relative calm.

"The M23 attacked us this morning in Karenga," a security source said.

The attack dislodged soldiers from their position, "but we are going to recover the area," the source added.