Text:
http://www.africanews.org/central/congo-kinshasa/stories/19990326_feat4.html
Source App: [Forces Allied With DRC To Form Unified Command - Netscape]
Forces Allied With DRC To Form Unified Command
March 26, 1999
Kinshasa, DRC (PANA) - The Southern African Development Community Task Force
(Allied Forces) is poised to establish a one command structure to effectively
rebuff a rebel onslaught in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"We felt that such a unified command structure will co-ordinate our forces and strategically combat fierce fighting in the east of the country," Brig.-Gen. Denga Ndaitwah, the deputy commander of the task force, told the official Namibia news agency in an interview in Kinshasa.
He said the current "separated command structure is not effective enough to combat fierce resistance by the rebel forces."
Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Chad have been assisting embattled President Laurent Kabila since August to fight a 60,000-strong rebel offensive in the east of the country.
Ndaitwah, however, noted that despite the absence of a common structure, the allied forces scored significant victories against rebels of the Congolese Rally for Democracy.
He said the allied forces have so far achieved their primary objective of securing the capital, Kinshasa, from a rebel takeover, and also secured safe passage to the corridor leading to the sea.
"We have cleared Kinshasa and the corridor from rebel infiltration," he noted.
He further stressed that the main objective of the allied forces is to concentrate on the east where fighting is very intense.
"Therefore, a one command structure is of the utmost importance. We must co- ordinate our action in order to defeat the enemy," he said.
But Ndaitwah could not say when such a command structure will be set up or when a final offensive will be launched by the allied forces.
The rebels are supported by Rwanda and Uganda.
Copyright © 1999 Panafrican News Agency. Distributed via Africa News
Online(www.africanews.org). For information about the content or for permission to redistribute, publish or use for broadcast, contact Panafrican News Agency at the link above.