Kabila goes to DRC conflict zone

2010-04-08 16:52

Kinshasa - President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Thursday went to strife-torn Mbandaka to head a security council meeting, three days after fighting claimed 18 lives, officials said.

The president was accompanied to the capital of Equateur province by Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito and several other government ministers, a statement from the prime minister's office said.

The Congolese leaders were due to make "a precise evaluation of the main problems tied to the development of this part of the DRC," as well as assessing the security situation, the statement added.

Kabila went to the town 700km north-east of Kinshasa after weekend clashes pitted insurgents of the Enyele tribe against the armed forces (FARDC) and troops of the UN mission in the DRC (Monuc).

Nine people were killed on each side.

Fishing rights

About 100 Enyele fighters attacked Mbandaka airport on Sunday, and control was regained by the FARDC the next day, with the help of UN troops. Three Monuc personnel - a Ghanaian soldier, a South African pilot and a Congolese civilian employee - were killed, along with four FARDC soldiers and two policemen.

From late October to mid-December 2009, the Enyele, led by a witchdoctor, attacked members of the Munzaya community, as well as the police, in a battle for fishing rights centred around the fish-rich ponds at Dongo village, along the Oubangui river.

The FARDC intervened and seized back control of the Dongo in December. The clashes claimed at least 270 lives, including those of 187 civilians, according to official figures.

Fighting and fear caused by the arrival of the army led tens of thousands of local people to flee. An estimated 115 000 people crossed the Oubangui into the neighbouring Republic of Congo, where they have settled in northern zones which UN agencies and other relief agencies find hard to access.

- SAPA