Nairobi/Goma - International charity Oxfam said Wednesday it was concerned for the safety of civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo as Rwandan troops entered the country to hunt down Hutu militia formed after the 1994 massacre in Rwanda.

Several thousand Rwandan soldiers entered eastern DR Congo on Tuesday under an agreement with the Congolese government.

The soldiers headed north from Goma, the provincial capital of the unstable North Kivu province, to find the militia.

"Fighting three months ago, saw a quarter of a million people flee from their homes, and civilians killed, raped, and looted by all armed groups," Juliette Prodhan, the head of Oxfam in DR Congo, said in a statement.

"This new twist ... has the potential to result in similar abuse and significantly swell the 1 million people already displaced," she added.

Congolese Tutsi rebel group the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) in October launched a major offensive that sent over 250,000 people fleeing.

The CNDP, which is allegedly backed by Rwanda, says it is fighting to protect the Tutsi population from the Hutu militia.

The Congolese government has promised to tackle the Hutu militia on several occasions, but has failed to do so. The CNDP says this is one of the main reasons it was forced to take up arms again.

Many of the Hutu fighters fled over the border from Rwanda in 1994 after taking part in the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The Hutu groups were also involved in the 1998-2003 war in DR Congo, which has led to the deaths of over 5 million people and displaced over 1 million.

The 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping force MONUC is playing no role in the operation, which will be carried out by Rwandan and Congolese army forces.

MONUC struggled to contain the outbreak of violence last year and Oxfam said it was worried this situation would be repeated.

"The UN peacekeeping force is already overstretched and the 3,000 extra troops promised months ago have yet to arrive," Prodhan said. "MONUC was not able to keep civilians saf ... and without reinforcements, it is unclear that it will be able to now." (dpa)