DATE=11/20/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO REBELS (L)
NUMBER=2-256395
BYLINE=TODD PITMAN
DATELINE=KIGALI, RWANDA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo are
reporting renewed clashes with government forces in
the north of the country. As Todd Pitman reports from
the Rwandan capital, Kigali, the rebels say at least 34
people were killed in the latest fighting.
TEXT: Rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba says the
fighting broke out when government troops tried to
capture the small rebel-held town of Dongo, some 870
kilometers northeast of the Congolese capital,
Kinshasa.
Mr. Bemba says government troops lost 33 men in the
attack on Friday, but were repulsed and pushed south.
He said rebels lost only one soldier, while another
was wounded. The government in Kinshasa issued no
statement on the reported clash and there was no
independent confirmation of the rebel claims.
Rebel officials say fighting was still continuing to
the south of Dongo, as rebels tried to clear the area.
/// Opt /// Mr. Bemba also accused government troops
of launching bombing raids in the same area with a
Russian-built Antonov-26 plane. Rebels say at least
eight bombs struck the nearby town of Bonginda, but no
causality figures were available. /// End Opt ///
Mr. Bemba's rebel group, the Ugandan-backed Congolese
Liberation Movement, is one of three rebel factions
that have been fighting for more than a year to oust
President Laurent Kabila.
A peace deal was signed in late August by the three
rebel factions and six African nations involved the
war. But the rebels have renounced the deal, saying
President Kabila's troops have continued to attack
their positions in violation the peace accord.
(SIGNED)
NEB/TP/JP
20-Nov-1999 12:57 PM EDT (20-Nov-1999 1757 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
