Text:
http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/world/121498/world10_26177.html
Source App: [Global News - Netscape]
Congolese rebels claim to have downed
2 Zimbabwean aircraft
Copyright © 1998 Nando Media
Copyright © 1998 The Associated Press
KIGALI, Rwanda (December 14, 1998 11:28 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) -- Congolese rebels said Monday they had shot down a Zimbabwean jet fighter and helicopter gunship during skirmishes in southeastern Congo.
The military in Zimbabwe reported loosing one helicopter gunship and an unspecified number of troops in fighting for Kabalo, a rebel-held Congo River port and an important railway junction in mineral-rich southern Katanga Province.
The rebels -- a coalition of ethnic Tutsis, disaffected soldiers and opposition politicians -- took up arms Aug. 2 against President Laurent Kabila, accusing him of misrule, corruption and ethnic warmongering.
Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia have supported Kabila, while Rwanda and Uganda have provided arms and troops to the rebels. The conflict has sparked fears it would spread into larger violence in the region.
Rebel leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba said his forces had repulsed attacks by government forces and allied Zimbabwean and Namibian soldiers at Kabalo, 935 miles southeast of the capital, Kinshasa. He said they also shot down the MiG-21 fighter jet and helicopter gunship.
The state-owned Daily Herald quoted the headquarters of the Zimbabwean, Angolan and Namibian troops supporting Kabila as saying that 80 rebels had been killed and that fighting was continuing.
Zimbabwe is using planes and helicopters to attack rebels and ferry soldiers behind rebel lines.
So far, efforts to broker a cease-fire have failed over Kabila's persistent refusal to negotiate directly with the rebels, whom he accuses of being the puppets of Rwanda and Uganda.
By HRVOJE HRANJSKI, Associated Press Writer