Congo rebels advance despite cease-fire
KANYABAYONGA, Congo (AP) — On one side of this mountaintop ghost town, a line of black-booted rebels approaches on foot with rockets and tin boxes of ammunition, seizing new territory with each footstep despite promises of a cease-fire.
On the other side, government soldiers in flip-flops balancing portable generators and luggage on their heads have begun to flee.
In between, the vast Central African nation’s deepening humanitarian crisis is laid bare: Thousands of desperate civilians who used to live in this eastern Congo town huddle against coils of concertina wire surrounding a base for U.N. peacekeepers, waiting nervously for the rebels.
“We are hungry and thirsty, but we don’t want any aid. We want security,” said 30-year-old Jeff Machozi, who built a makeshift tent three days ago with tree branches and bamboo he ripped out of the earth. “We want this war to stop.”
Clashes between fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda and the army and its allied spear-wielding militias exploded in August and has displaced at least 250,000 people.
But those refugee figures do not include remote towns like Kanyabayonga, whose entire population has fled, or Kayna, another town just to the north, which was also virtually deserted Monday.
Kanyabayonga is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of the regional capital, Goma.
Though Nkunda told U.N. envoy Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday that he was committed to a cease-fire, his troops have been carving out an even greater territory in the remote hills north of Goma.
Early Monday, the rebels took control of Rwindi, the headquarters of Virunga National Park, after a night spent trading artillery and mortar fire with army forces. Rwindi is 10 miles (17 kilometers) south of We’ll update with any further information when we have it. We are a world class wow gold store online. We sell wow gold, the cheapest wow gold to our loyal and reliable customers. You may buy cheap wow gold here. There is wow gold of sale; you can buy very cheap wow gold here. We have mass available stock of wow gold on most of the servers, so that we can do a really instant way of world of warcraft gold delivery. We know what our buyers need so we offer an instant way of cheap wow gold, the cheapest wow gold delivery. For more information of wow gold, please visit a the super wow website specialized in selling wow power leveling. We will serve you with cheap wow gold, buy wow gold Items. Compared with other wow gold suppliers, we are in advantage of selling the cheapest wow gold. Kanyabayonga.
U.N. peacekeepers at a base in Rwindi that was between the two sides said rounds flew overhead for more than an hour. Some exploded nearby, and one Indian soldier in a trench was wounded in the head by shrapnel, U.N. commanders at the base said.
Two government vehicles full of ammunition burned in the night, though peacekeepers said it wasn’t clear if soldiers destroyed them by accident or to keep rebels from taking them.
By Monday morning, peacekeepers said they woke to find rebels in the town.
Monday afternoon, rebel fighters were already marching single-file by the side of the road north toward Kanyabayonga, which sits on a hilltop. Wearing crisp military uniforms and black Wellington boots, they carried rockets, generators and Kalashnikov rifles.
Halfway up the road that zigzags to the top of the densely forested mountain, an army soldier waved a car of approaching journalists to stop — his presence marking the front line.
Kanyabayonga itself was virtually deserted, except for handfuls of people still fleeing with everything they owned. Women carried babies and plastic yellow Jerry cans and rolled mattresses on their backs. Children, doubled over under heavy loads, trekked behind.
Hundreds of soldiers could be seen in apparent retreat, walking down the same roads pushing wooden bikes laden with sacks, and carrying ammunition and bundles of belongings on their heads.
Related Topics:
- 7 die in plane crash off Canada coast
- GOP not playing “Minnesota nice” with Franken
- Colorado family notified about body in Lake Michigan
- Colorado family notified about body in Lake Michigan
- LIers seek Obama inauguration tickets from local pols