"Those (children) that have been recruited must be freed immediately," mission chief Alan Doss said in the statement, adding he was "particularly concerned" about children serving in the ranks of Rwandan Hutu rebels, known as the Democratic Force for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

"One must be vigilant and ensure these children are not involved in fighting and are removed from the FDLR ranks before any military operation," he said.

He added that the peacekeeping mission MONUC was prepared to help the children leave and be repatriated as part of its program to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate militia and rebel groups.

About 3,000 children count among the ranks of armed groups in Congo, mostly in the restive eastern Kivu provinces, the United Nations estimates.

Congolese and Rwandan forces launched a joint operation earlier this week to rout FDLR rebels in Nord-Kivu who took refuge there after Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

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