World News
Fighting, crisis grips Congo, Rwanda
UBUJUMBURA, Burundi (PANA)-Burundi's defense minister, Lt. Col. Alfred Nkurunziza, recently denied that his country's troops were involved in the current fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But an Aug. 10 report in The New York Times, quoted a Nigerian pilot, who said Rwandans hijacked a commercial airliner and used it to transport rebel soldiers and weapons to fight Congo President Laurent Kabila.
"The Congolese crisis is an internal matter," said Lt. Col. Nkurunziza Aug. 7 in Bujumbura. However, he conceded that the situation worried the Burundi government because the Congo hosts Burundian refugees "who could take this opportunity to disturb order and security in Burundi."
"There was a time when terrorists came from Congolese territory to attack the provinces of Cibitoke and Bubanza in northwestern Burundi," he said. Lt. Col. Nkurunziza denied allegations that Burundi sent troops to the Congo where fighting has been raging since Aug. 1.
Fighting the government army are "Banyamulenge" rebels of Tutsi origin who helped President Kabila's victorious march on Kinshasa and subsequent assumption of power in May last year.
According to the Times, a Nigerian pilot recounted the airplane hijacking over Congo's official radio station. The pilot said Rwandans took over the plane in Goma, Rwanda, refuled in Kigali and then flew to a military base in the Congo. The rebels fought government troops and three airliners were involved in the operation, he said.
Heavy shelling started Aug. 1 in Kinshasa between regular forces and soldiers of Tutsi origin and continued Aug. 2. The Tutsi soldiers are said to be angered by his decision to have foreign troops leave the Congo.
The fighting was centered on the Tshatshi barracks, where the former residence of the late Mobutu Sese Seko is located. The barracks were inhabited by the Rwandan troops in the Congolese Armed Forces until the repatriation order. On Aug. 3, the government called on people to stay at home until law and order was restored.
According to sources, some 20 government forces were killed in surprise attack by their colleagues. Civilians were also killed by stray bullets around the Tshatshi barracks. The government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Kinshasa effective Aug. 3. Meanwhile, other reports speak of some confusion regarding the people behind an emerging rebellion in the eastern part of the country. The United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) cited what it called official Banyamulenge sources in the region as saying "we have rejected the rule of Kabila."
Humanitarian sources in Bukavu said Radio Bukavu and a local development radio station known as "Radio Maendeleo" were in the hands of the Banyamulenge military. It said witnesses also reported the presence of some Rwandan soldiers.
The two remaining Tutsi members of Mr. Kabila's government are reported to have fled the country. The former secretary general of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo, Deogratias Bugera, recently appointed presidential affairs minister, is said to be in Belgium and Foreign Minister Bizima Karaha has also left the country.
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