DRC sacks army chief for selling arms to rebels

President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Joseph Kabila has sacked the chief of land forces over UN accusations he runs a huge arms smuggling network supplying several groups, including Congolese rebels, a spokesman said Thursday.Government spokesman Lambert Mende told reporters in Kinshasa that the measure was temporary, pending a “thorough investigation” into General Gabriel Amisi’s activities.A report by the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo released this week accuses Amisi of overseeing a network that provides arms and ammunitions to armed groups and elephant poachers.The sacking of one of DR Congo’s top military leaders comes two days after the regular FARDC forces suffered a humiliating setback when the M23 rebel group drove them out of the main eastern city of Goma.Among those Amisi is accused of selling arms to is the Mai-Mai Raia Mutomboki group, which is believed to be responsible for hundreds of deaths in recent months in eastern DR Congo.