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Fourteen Zimbabwe soldiers held in DRC

[Liberia] Liberian President Charles Taylor. AP
President Charles Taylor has promised to step down next Monday
Congolese rebels at the weekend announced the capture of 14 Zimbabwean soldiers in a battle near Eshimba, some 250 km southeast of the diamond mining city of Mbuji-Mayi, Reuters reported on Monday. In a dispatch quoting a rebel spokesman, it said the men were held after a battle on Friday, but gave no further details. The incident, however, was not confirmed by the government or independent sources, it said. A Rwanda radio broadcast monitored by the BBC said besides the 14 captured, an unspecified number of Zimbabwean soldiers had also been killed in the Mbuji-Mayi fighting.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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