Angolan troops in Congo - UN

DRC - A UN official in The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday evening accused the Angolan government of sending its troops to help President Joseph Kabila fight rebel troops of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) led by General Laurent Nkunda. Agence France-Presse (AFP) last evening quoted a UN official – an officer in the Monuc peacekeeping force who requested anonymity – that the Angolans had taken part in fighting on Friday. Speaking to AFP near the front line, the UN official said Angolan units were deployed Friday near Kibati, just north of the Nord-Kivu provincial capital Goma, on the front line separating the Congolese army (FARDC) from the CNDP. New clashes between army and rebels erupted just outside Goma near Kibati, where about 45,000 refugees have taken refuge. Thousands have fled toward the relative safety of Goma. Reports say that Rutchuru hospital was full of displaced civilians, and its staff had treated 43 wounded there during the last two days. Congo reportedly asked Angola for military support on October, 29 as General Nkunda gained ground over government troops. Nkunda had early declared a unilateral cease-fire last week when his forces reached the outskirts of the city, but the truce has crumbled after the government soldiers reportedly attacked his positions. He has now vowed to fight on. A Uruguayan peacekeeping officer said Friday that an unspecified number of Angolans troops arrived four days ago. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity. Congo’s 1998-2002 war drew in more than half a dozen African nations, including Angola. Zimbabwean troops are also reported to have joined the government coalition which also includes several armed groups operating in the DRC. They include the outlawed Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), remnants of the former Rwanda (Ex-FAR) and Interahamwe militia who spearheaded the 1994 Genocide of Tutsis. During a peace summit in Nairobi, Kenya, with Congolese President Joseph Kabila and six other African leaders Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, warned that the crisis could engulf the region. The Summit resolved that all previous agreements to bring peace back to the eastern DRC should be implemented immediately, including the disarming of the FDLR by the DRC government. Ends