File photo shows protestors set fire on tires on a street in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dec. 9, 2011. (Xinhua/Han Bing)

KINSHASA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 26 people were killed on Saturday in inter-ethnic fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to security sources on site.

The sources said the fighting involved members of the Hema and Lendu community in Ituri province, where a Hema village located a few kilometers from the city of Bunia was attacked.

Sources from the provincial government of Ituri also confirmed the incident, saying that some villagers were killed and several houses were burned during the attack.

Police and soldiers were dispatched to the spot to prevent the spread of violence, which followed days of tension between the two ethnic communities in the region.

The conflicts between Hema and Lendu have made it difficult for the two communities to coexist for several years in the province of Ituri. Between 2001 and 2006, at least 60,000 people died in clashes between the two in Ituri.