ISLAMABAD, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan said on Wednesday it will probe reports saying that Pakistani UN peacekeeping troops have traded in gold and sold weapons to Congolese militia groups they were meant to disarm.

    "On our part, our relevant authorities will look into the matter to ascertain facts," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said.

    She was commenting on a BBC report regarding certain allegations against UN peace keepers including some Pakistanis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The British Broadcasting Corporation in an investigative report claims that the trading went on in 2005 and that a United Nations investigative team sent to gather evidence was obstructed and threatened.

    According to the spokesperson, Pakistan's foreign mission in New York was informed on Tuesday by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) that the BBC had contacted them for a story on some allegations which were being investigated.

    The spokesperson said that Pakistan has been one of the largest troop contributors to the UN peace keeping operations around the world.

    "Our contribution to peace keeping and consolidation of peace is well known," Aslam said.

    According to the BBC, these events took place in and around the mining town of Mongbwalu, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The Pakistani battalion of the UN peacekeeping mission was deployed there in 2005 and helped bring peace to an area that had previously seen bitter fighting between the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups.