Thousands flee deadly fighting in eastern Congo*

POSTED: 1604 GMT (0004 HKT), February 21, 2007

Story Highlights
• Rwandan, Congolese militias fight army; at least 23 combatants killed
• Militias trying to stop deployment of new national army in North Kivu
province
• Rwandan Hutu militia have operated in region since 1994 genocide
• Hutu militias had slaughtered 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- Days of clashes between the army and Rwandan and
Congolese militias in eastern Congo have killed at least 23 combatants
and forced thousands to flee, the army and U.N. officials said Tuesday.

Fighting broke out four days ago in North Kivu province, which borders
the frontiers with Rwanda and Uganda, and continued Tuesday, said Col.
Delphin Kahindi, a top army commander responsible for the volatile province.

Rwandan and Congolese fighters were trying to stop Congo's fledgling
national army from being deployed in the area, Kahindi said.

"We are determined to totally secure the province," Kahindi said.
Rwandan Hutu militia operate in eastern Congo

Rwandan Hutu militia have operated in eastern Congo since fleeing Rwanda
in 1994 after that country's genocide, in which hardline Hutus organized
the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Kahindi said fighting was reported in several parts of the province. He
said 20 militiamen and three soldiers were killed.

A U.N. spokesman, Lt. Col. Didier Rancher, confirmed the clashes but had
no word on casualties.

Speaking from the provincial capital, Goma, another U.N. official,
Andrew Zadel, said 8,620 displaced people had fled to the nearby village
of Nyanzale and 14,000 others were receiving aid from the Red Cross at
Kikuku. But it was unclear how many in Nyanzale had fled the latest
clashes and how many were simply in need of aid.

Backed by 18,000 U.N. peacekeepers, Congo's government, based in the
faraway capital, Kinshasa, has struggled for years to improve security
in the east. The region was once divided into various rebel fiefdoms,
but united with the rest of the country after a 2002 power-sharing deal
ended the country's 1998-2002 war.