High tension in Bunia after renewed fighting

After a brief lull, tension is again “very high” in the northeastern Congolese town of Bunia with more gunfire reported on Thursday, the governing Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML) said. Fierce fighting resumed on Wednesday between troops loyal to RCD-ML leader Professor Ernest Wamba dia Wamba and those of his rival and former deputy, Mbusa Nyamwisi, resulting in an unknown number of deaths and injuries, RCD-ML officials said. “Thursday’s attack lasted about 10 minutes and the Presidential Private Unit (PPU) contained it,” RCD-ML spokesman Jean-Ernest Louis Kayiviro told IRIN. Uganda’s presidential adviser on Congo, Colonel Kahinda Otafiire, flew into Bunia on Thursday with a message from the Ugandan authorities “He delivered a message from Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni informing Wamba that a meeting between the professor and his rivals would take place in the next two days,” Kayiviro said. Although Wamba was not against meeting Nyamwisi, he made it clear to Otafiire that the RCD-ML’s current priority is security for the people in Bunia. “Unless this is ensured, it would be hard for him to travel to Kampala,” Kayiviro said. It was also agreed that the RCD-ML would announce on Thursday evening or early Friday that Wamba was still its president to “dispel anxiety” among the population. “Tension in Bunia is very high and the situation is not so good,” Kayiviro said. He explained the Thursday morning attack started after Nyamwisi’s group returned to the area around Wamba’s residence to pick up the bodies of their dead colleagues. “On spotting them, the PPUs started preparing themselves in case they attacked, but they [Nyamwisi’s group], in fear, started firing,” Kayiviro said. Wednesday’s attack however was described as “very heavy” and lasted an hour. “The RCD-ML feels really distressed that people are losing their lives because of an attempt on Wamba’s life,” Kayiviro said. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) did not intervene. “There is a possibility of clashes recurring,” Kayiviro warned. Earlier this month, the UPDF had to send tanks and troops to protect Wamba from Nyamwisi’s soldiers. Nyamwisi last month declared himself RCD-ML president in a coup attempt against Wamba, who was restored by the Ugandan army. Efforts by UPDF officials to get the two leaders to settle the leadership wrangle peacefully failed when Wamba last week refused to travel to Kampala for a meeting with Nyamwisi.