Text:
http://www.africanews.org/central/congo-kinshasa/stories/19990313_feat1.html
Congo Rebels Capture Three Towns In Shaba Province
March 13, 1999
Kampala - Congolese rebels yesterday said they captured three townships of Pepa,
Kaputo and Kasiki in Congo's Shaba province. But security sources yesterday said
Kabila and his allies recaptured the rebel-held town of Mwenga 70km southwest of
Bukavu in South Kivu. Sources said allied troops also recaptured the Sofa
township in central Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ugandan security officials yesterday denied that over 200 Ugandan troops have been killed by the allied troops. The officials denied having an official called Sekayi whom the allies claim was killed. "Who is this Sekayi? It will be a miracle even to kill 20 UPDF, let alone 200. Can Kabila and the allies who have been bombing rebel positions without ground support know how many they have killed and whom they have wounded? This is cheap propaganda," a senior security officer said yesterday. President Laurent Kabila is fighting to halt rebel advances from northern and eastern DRC, was quoted by Zimbabwe's state media as saying they killed 239 Ugandan troops in battles over the last two weeks. Ugandan officials said Zimbabwe's propaganda campaign follows the loss of the strategic southeastern town of Pepa in Shaba province.
"Allied forces engaged Ugandan forces currently trying to advance towards Kinshasa and the diamond-rich town of Mbuji-Mayi situated south-west of their stronghold of Kisangani, killing at least 239 troops, including a battalion commander known as Sekayi," the Herald newspaper said last Friday. It added that a Zimbabwean soldier had been killed and three others injured in the fighting. Independent confirmation of the Herald report was not immediately available. AFP (a French news agency) also quoted RCD military commander Jean-Pierre Ondekane in Kisangani as saying yesterday that his forces had captured Pepa south of the Katangan town of Moba.
There was, however, no independent confirmation of the situation on the ground. On Wednesday, about 600 allied troops fled to neighbouring Zambia as Congolese rebels fought for the control of the Lake Mweru shore town of Pweto. Security sources said thousands of Congolese youths trained by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe and passed-out recently at Lubumbashi, were engaged in the Pweto fighting. "Around 600 DRC soldiers and policemen who also crossed the border have been disarmed and separated from the refugees," the UN quoted local sources in northern Zambia yesterday.
Kabila said on state television Wednesday that Mayi-Mayi militia armed by his government had captured Mwenga. Sources said the Mayi Mayi, Interahamwe and Burundian Hutu rebels still control Fizi and Uvira, in the heart of rebel -controlled territory. A UNHCR report said close to 3,500 Congolese refugees arrived in Kigoma, mainly from the Fizi and Uvira areas of South Kivu between March 2-8. Refugees from Kalemie in Katanga province reported war-planes bombing rebel bases in that area, the report said.
A total of 41,355 Congolese refugees have crossed into western Tanzania since the start of the conflict in August.
UN reports quoted sources saying rebel forces attacked civilians and looted Pepa last week, an event which trigger the influx of some 4,000 refugees into Zambia.
Copyright © 1999 New Vision. Distributed via Africa News Online (www.africanews.org). For information about the content or for permission to redistribute, publish or use for broadcast, contact New Vision at the link above.