Ninja militia allied to former prime minister Bernard Kolelas, responding to the government's recent call for rebels to renounce violence, have said they would not lay down their weapons "until the Brazzaville regime stops bombing southern regions of the Congo, notably in Pool." In a statement received by IRIN on Tuesday, the Haut Commandment des Forces Congolaises de Liberation-Ninjas (FCL-Ninjas) charged that the government's "daily bombardment" of civilian populations was being conducted "with the massive assistance of foreign occupation troops, and of African and European mercenaries."
Meanwhile, the Congolese army has claimed in an unconfirmed report to have killed 15 rebels in clashes at Loutete on the strategically important Brazzaville-Pointe Noire railway line, sustaining minimal casualties itself, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday.
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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