Two people were killed in a clash sparked by an operation to clear a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo of a settlement of illegal gold miners, sources said Thursday.

Army troops and park rangers at the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (RFO) launched the operation after the miners had received repeated warnings and a relocation site had been prepared for them 30 kilometres (18 miles) away, RFO's human resources chief, Christian Mushingalwa, said.

"The toll is two dead and some wounded, four them seriously, all of them civilians," he said.

The RFO is a UNESCO-listed sanctuary in the province of Ituri, hosting numerous endangered species, including a sixth of the world's 30,000 surviving okapi, also known as the forest giraffe.

The park comes under the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN).

"It is in the goal of preserving the environment and ending this practice (of illegal settlement) that the ICCN had asked the provincial government to evacuate this people," Mushingalwa said.

The settlers had last been told to move on July 23, he said.

The administrator of Mambasa territory told AFP that they had "barricaded the national highway 4 for several hours," and this had prompted intervention by the army.

The RFO, established in 1992, lists 101 species of mammals, including leopards and bongo antelopes, and 376 species of birds, over lush forest and waterfalls spanning 1.23 million hectares (over three million acres).

Of this 282,000 ha. are listed as completely protected and have a ban on hunting. In the remaining 950,000 ha. hunting is permitted but only using traditional methods.

Assani Nguma, head of civil society organisations in Mambasa, said he understood the ICCN's concerns "but we want dialogue between parties that are in dispute, so that there is peaceful cohabitation between the reserve and its neighbours."

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