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Source App: [Rebels said undeterred by bombing in Eastern Congo - Netscape]
Rebels said undeterred by bombing in Eastern Congo
By Todd Pitman
KALEMIE, Congo, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Government-allied warplanes fly every day
over rebel-held territory in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
but the air sorties and occasional bombing raids have done little to check the
rebel advance, rebel officials say.
"They (planes) come every night at 21:30," said Dieudonne Shindano Waya, the senior representative of the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy in the Lake Tanganyika port of Kalemie.
"They are coming to drop bombs because they have no hope of taking the town back by land," Waya said late on Thursday.
The rebels, backed by neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, launched a revolt to oust President Laurent Kabila in early August, and have captured most major towns in the east of the country including, they say, all of those along Lake Tanganyika.
Troops allied to the Kabila's government -- led by Zimbabwean soldiers -- launched a counter-offensive in eastern Congo several weeks ago, but rebels claim to be to be resisting their attacks.
Waya said government-allied planes had launched three air raids on or around Kalemie over the last several weeks, killing 12 people and wounding 15 others. Another 13 people have died and around 75 more have been injured since the bombing raids began in early September, he told reporters.
On Tuesday bombs fell into the bush outside Kalemie, but no casualties were reported. Most sorties seemed to be for surveillance purposes rather than bombing raids, Waya said.
A rebel commander in Kalemie told reporters on Thursday rebel troops were pushing further into Kabila's southern stronghold of Katanga, and last week had clashed with Namibian troops in a battle for a strategic bridge along the Congo river.
The commander said rebels had last Friday captured Nzofu bridge, located some 250 km (150 miles) west of Kalemie near the town of Kabalo in northern Katanga province.
He said many Namibians had died in the battle while rebels destroyed an armoured troop transporter and captured two others in the fight. There was no independent confirmation.
Rebel troops captured Kalemie on August 26, sending most of its inhabitants fleeing into the bush.
While many have since returned, Waya said around a quarter of the town's estimated 500,000 people continue to shelter in the surrounding forests.
Life had largely returned to normal in the fading lakeside town early on Friday, with street markets bustling with business and trains transporting rebel troops around the area.