Washington condemns Equateur offensive

The US Department of State on Tuesday strongly condemned the government’s ongoing military offensive in the northwestern Equateur Province. Kinshasa’s Forces armees congolaises (FAC) had captured the town of Imese, which had been held by the rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) since before the ceasefire agreement, renewed by the combatants in Kampala in April, deputy spokesman Philip T Reeker said. These attacks “threaten to undermine the implementation of the [Lusaka] Accords, which remain the only viable means for a peaceful resolution of the Congolese conflict,” Reeker said. MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba said his fighters withdrew from Imese after six days of fighting with government troops, backed by about 150 Zimbabwean soldiers, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Wednesday. Bemba had also called for the UN to investigate ceasefire violations, it added. Already, the attacks have caused thousands of civilians to flee the area, Reeker’s statement said. “We call on the Congolese government to stop these operations immediately”, and for the rebels in the northwest “to similarly respect the Lusaka and Kampala ceasefire agreements,” the statement added.