DATE=6/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO / FIGHTING LULL (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-263375
BYLINE=TODD PITMAN
DATELINE=KISANGANI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Residents of the northeastern Congolese city
of Kisangani enjoyed their first day of peace Sunday
after a week of clashes between Rwandan and Ugandan
troops. Reporter Todd Pitman went out on the streets
to survey the scene.
TEXT: Burned out apartment blocks, thousands of
ammunition boxes, and dozens of dead Ugandan soldiers
scattered through the streets were the grim results of
a week of battles between Ugandan and Rwandan troops
in Kisangani.
The two armies, once close allies, faced off for six
days along the front line they cut through the city's
Tshopo residential district, engaging each other in
fierce firefights from buildings and trenches dug in
the streets.
But Rwandan commanders say they finally punched north
through Ugandan lines on Saturday, pushing Ugandan
troops east and west and forcing them to abandon their
positions.
The devastation caused by the battle is immense. On
one street in Tshopo, entire rows of pink and light
blue apartment blocks were laid to waste. Mangled
metal hung down from roof tops, concrete walls were
blown off or torn through by heavy caliber bullets,
while hundreds of shop fronts and houses were
splattered with pock marks from bullets.
Curious residents, many with bundles and mattresses on
their heads who are returning home for the first time
since clashes broke out last Monday, walked through
the rubble, gazing at the destruction.
At least 37 corpses, all Ugandan soldiers, lay in the
street, some clutching ammunition boxes, others
twisted in the dirt.
The bodies of three young children lay in one house,
with family members weeping around them.
The Tshopo River bridge now marks the front line
between the two sides. A small team of United Nations
observers has deployed on both sides of the bridge in
an attempt to keep the two sides apart.
Rwanda and Uganda both announced they were withdrawing
their troops from the city to end the clashes and
prevent the loss of more innocent lives.
But for many residents, grieving over lost family
members and many others who lost arms and legs, the
withdrawal was welcome -- but much too late. (Signed)
NEB/TP/DW/KL
11-Jun-2000 14:45 PM EDT (11-Jun-2000 1845 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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