Clashes erupt in DRC
2008-11-16 14:37
Kinshasa - Heavy fighting erupted in
eastern Congo on Sunday, hours before former Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo, a United Nations peace envoy, was due to meet
rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, the UN and witnesses said.
It was not immediately clear who was involved in the
clashes. Artillery, rocket and small arms fire have been heard
since early morning near the village of Ndeko, about 110 km north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.
Obasanjo is due to meet Nkunda later on Sunday morning, some
60 km southeast of Ndeko, in his efforts to end weeks of clashes
between Nkunda's rebels and the army. The violence has sparked a
displaced 250 000 some people, creating a humanitarian disaster.
"There is a lot of fighting going on. They are using heavy
weapons - rockets and artillery - as well as small arms," a
witness told Reuters from the road just south of Ndeko.
The UN peacekeeping mission also confirmed the clashes.
"We have had a flash report of heavy fighting since seven
this morning at Ndeko. We have sent a patrol out to see
what is going on," said spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich.
Neither the UN nor the witness could confirm who was
involved in Sunday's clashes but Nkunda's fighters have
previously clashed with both government soldiers and Rwandan
Hutu rebels, known as the FDLR, in the area.
Nkunda accuses Congolese President Joseph Kabila of arming
and using the FDLR to fight alongside his weak and chaotic army
units. Kabila, meanwhile, accuses neighbouring Rwanda of
supporting Nkunda's four year rebellion.
Nkunda initially took up arms saying he was fighting to
defend fellow Tutsis in Congo from attack by the FDLR but, after
marching to the gates of Goma last month, he is now calling for
direct negotiations with the president.
Kabila has so far refused and there are fears that fighting
could degenerate into a conflict similar to Congo's 1998-2003
war, which sucked in six neighbouring armies and killed over
five million people, mostly from hunger and disease.