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News :: International Relations |
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A New War in Africa? |
Current rating: 0 |
by reuters via Scott Edwards
Email: scottisimo (nospam) hotmail.com (verified) |
15 Dec 2004
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President Kabila commented that Congo-Kinshasa was in a state of "war" with its "neighbor", Rwanda. |
By David Lewis
KINSHASA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Congolese government forces clashed with rebels at a town near the border with Rwanda for a third day on Wednesday as the two countries traded heated accusations over who was involved in the fighting.
The clashes broke out as government reinforcements -- sent to the region after Rwanda threatened to invade -- tried to move southwards, United Nations peacekeepers said.
The fighting in the town of Kanyabayonga involves members of the RCD Goma group, a Rwandan-backed rebel faction during Congo's five-year war. It is now officially part of the army but remains largely separate from the national military command.
"The fighting started early this morning and continued all day long. But by 4 p.m. it seemed to be calming down," said Jacqueline Chenard, a U.N. spokeswoman. She said RCD Goma remained in control of the town.
Congolese officials have accused Rwandan troops of taking part in the clashes, and President Joseph Kabila's spokesman said Congo was "at war" with its neighbour, although other government officials played down the remark.
Rwanda has denied any of its soldiers are in eastern Congo, although it says it reserves the right to go in and hunt down Rwandan Hutu fighters, some of whom took part in their country's 1994 genocide before fleeing into Rwanda's western neighbour.
Pakistani peacekeepers fired shots overnight to repel three boats of gunmen crossing Lake Kivu towards the Congolese town of Bukavu from Rwanda, said Iliane Nabaa, another U.N. spokeswoman.
"They fired some warning shots but the men in the boats fired back," she said. "The exchange of fire lasted about 10 minutes before the boats turned around and went back to Rwanda."
"NO DECLARATION OF WAR"
Congo's civil war, which drew in six neighbouring states, was officially declared over last year, but the vast country remains fragile, particularly in the lawless, mineral-rich east.
An international aid agency reported last week the war had killed 3.8 million people, mostly from hunger and disease.
"We are at war with the Rwandans, as we have been for some time. It's just that it has not been declared," said Kudura Kasongo, the spokesman for the Congolese president.
But Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi brushed off suggestions of a full-scale conflict between the central African neighbours. "It does not mean a declaration of war," he said.
Rwanda's presidential envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Richard Sezibera, said: "Rwanda is not at war with the Congo."
He also denied Congolese government claims that two Rwandan soldiers had been taken prisoner in the recent clashes.
"There are no Rwandan soldiers involved in the fighting in Kanyabayonga," he said.
The conflict in the town -- some 45 km (28 miles) from the border -- broke out on Sunday and continued on Monday. Tuesday was calm but witnesses reported almost all civilians had fled.
Wednesday's clashes began when Congolese army reinforcements tried to head south from the towns of Beni and Lubero, said Colonel Patrick des Francs, a senior officer in the U.N. peacekeeping force. |
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