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DR Congo Battling Rwandan Forces

Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)
NEWS
December 15, 2004
Posted to the web December 15, 2004

By Peter Efande

The government in Kinshasa says its troops are currently fighting Rwandan
soldiers, and not Congolese rebels.
The situation in the east of the country , shows no signs of abating. Are
Rwandan troops actuallly in Dr Congo? Congo's government spokesman yesterday
said "yes", but denied that rival army factions were fighting each other in the
east of the country and insisted the clashes were between Congolese and Rwandan
forces.
"The Rwandans have sent soldiers to reinforce the positions they never really
left in North Kivu (province)," said Henri Mova Sakanyi to Reuters. He is the
information minister. Rwanda has already insisted its troops are not involved
in the fighting. Local army commanders have said Congolese troop reinforcements
have been fighting factions loyal to the Rwandan-backed RCD Goma former rebel
group. But Sakanyi said it was clear Rwandan forces had entered the Democratic
Republic of Congo. "The Congolese army has been fighting the Rwandan army which
was sent into Congo to reawaken the sleeper cells of the rebels they used to
support," he said. "It is not a question of a mutiny." Fighting in the past two
days has centerd around the town of Kanyabayonga, some 180 km (110 miles) north
of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.
Last month Rwanda threatened to send soldiers into its much larger neighbor to
hunt down Rwandan Hutu rebels it accuses of cross-border raids and involvement
in its 1994 genocide. Congo said it would send some 10,000 extra soldiers to
the east to prevent any incursions. Despite widespread reports of their
presence, no one has been able to say definitively whether Rwandan troops
entered Congo and it also remains unclear how many extra soldiers the
government has sent and what role they are playing. The AU and the UN have both
called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

   

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