|
DRCongo: 13 rebels killed
20/12/2007 18:45 - (SA)
Goma - Government troops in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo pushed back rebels loyal to rogue colonel Laurent Nkunda, killing 13 of his men, an officer with the FARDC said on Thursday.
Colonel Antoine Mushimbu, head of the army's Sixth Brigade, told reporters:"The FARDC troops killed 13 insurgents who attacked our positions at Ntamugenga"
The clash took place in Rutshuru territory, about 60km north of the provincial capital Goma, he said.
"We pushed them back a long way, into the Bukima hills," he said. Calm had been restored in the conflict zone.
A spokesperson for MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, confirmed the clashes had taken place, but gave no casualty figures.
"Informed by the FARDC, MONUC immediately sent a rapid reaction force that is now in the area," said MONUC spokesperson in Nord-Kivu Sylvie van den Wildenberg.
The DR Congo's army has deployed almost 25 000 troops in Nord-Kivu to fight an estimated 4 000 men loyal to Nkunda.
The cashiered general presents himself as a local warlord and claims to be protecting fellow ethnic Tutsis in eastern DRC.
Villagers continue to suffer from the rampant violence in the area. There are currently 800 000 civilians displaced by the ongoing war, according to UN figures.
MSF: Cholera outbreaks
According to a report issued on Wednesday by Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders, MSF) they are living in dire conditions.
Cholera had broken out in the makeshift camps and in towns to which they had fled, swelling the demand for precious water supplies, said MSF and aid agencies were having trouble reaching them.
The Kinshasa government and the UN have put Nkunda under strong pressure to disarm and some of his men have turned themselves in to join a new national army.
Nkunda himself has rejected such appeals and has also rejected calls from Washington to go into exile.
Nkunda's base and aides could not be contacted on Thursday. The latest attack came while preparations were being made for a conference in Goma aimed at ending strife in both Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu provinces.
- SAPA
|
News
