Thousands flee fighting in eastern Congo
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
Thousands flee fighting in eastern Congo*
20 Oct 2007 18:25:59 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Joe Bavier
GOMA, Congo, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Thousands of civilians fled fighting
between Tutsi-dominated rebels, troops and pro-government militia in
eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, the U.N. peacekeeping
mission said.
Clashes began before dawn in Bunagana on the Ugandan border as Mai Mai
militia tried to seize a key supply route from rebels loyal to renegade
Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda.
Government troops fought Nkunda's forces in nearby Bukima, to the west
of Bunagana, according to officials at the U.N. peacekeeping mission in
Congo (MONUC).
"It was fairly serious. The fighting started early this morning and
ended late this afternoon," said Major P.K. Tiwari, MONUC military
spokesman in North Kivu, adding that it was not clear who attacked first.
Villagers from Bunagana and the nearby settlements of Jomba, Runyoni and
Bweza poured into Rutshuru, the local government-held administrative
seat, about 8 a.m. (0600 GMT).
"What I saw was horrendous. It was raining. They didn't know where to
go. Three women gave birth while they were fleeing," said Sylvie Van Den
Wildenberg, MONUC spokeswoman in North Kivu.
"The humanitarian consequences of whatever is happening there are very
serious."
About 370,000 people have already fled fighting between government
soldiers, Nkunda loyalists, local militias and Rwandan Hutu rebels since
the beginning of the year.
Congo's army has been battling Nkunda since August when his men
abandoned a January peace deal and pulled out of government brigades.
Nkunda led about 4,000 soldiers into the bush in 2004, saying he would
protect Congo's Tutsi minority.
He accuses the government of supporting the Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan rebel group including ex-Hutu
militia and Rwandan soldiers responsible for that country's 1994
genocide. This is denied by Congo.
Nkunda's military spokesman Major Seraphin Mirindi said the rebels were
attacked on Saturday by FDLR fighters.
"They attacked us. Now our clean-up operations are under way. We're
pushing them back, and they are losing many men," he told Reuters by
telephone.
The head of the local Mai-Mai militia, which has carried out operations
with the FDLR against Nkunda, said his forces near Bunagana had come
under attack about 3 a.m. (0100 GMT).
The Mai Mai leader, General Kasereka Kabamba, said his fighters had
taken control of Bunagana, but U.N. officials denied this.
After historic elections last year, President Joseph Kabila promised to
pacify Congo's troubled east. In a press conference in North Kivu's
provincial capital Goma on Wednesday, he said the army had received the
green light to begin preparing military operations to disarm Nkunda's
fighters.