Goods train attacked over weekend, "Ninjas" suspected

A goods train travelling from the coastal city of Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo (ROC) was attacked during the weekend, some 300 km southwest of the capital, Brazzaville, its final destination. Sources in Brazzaville told IRIN that assailants mined a section of the track near the town of Loulombo, causing the train to derail. Armed elements then surrounded the train, which was being escorted by a number of government soldiers, at least some of whom were reportedly taken hostage. The attackers were also reported to have pillaged the train of merchandise it was transporting, including petrol. There were no reports of deaths, although some 30 people who had irregularly boarded the train were reportedly wounded. A regional analyst suggested two possible motivations for the attack: that Ninja militias, who had been aggressively pursued by government forces for the past several months, needed to replenish their supplies, or that these same rebels wanted to send a message to the head of state, who has refused to engage in peaceful negotiations with them. Another freight train was attacked on 31 July near Kikembo, just west of Mindouli, 120 km west of Brazzaville, leaving dead two government soldiers who were guarding it, and two others wounded. That attack occurred in a zone said to be one of the last remaining rebel strongholds in the troubled Pool region, where government forces have been fighting self-proclaimed "Ninja" militias since late March. Renewed hostilities erupted in ROC in late March, when Ninjas attacked several government military positions in the Pool region, the government said. However, Ninja representatives said the clashes were provoked when they discovered government plans to arrest their leader, the Rev Frederic Bitsangou, alias Pasteur Ntoumi. The fighting began just days after Denis Sassou-Nguesso was declared the winner of the 10 March presidential election, with over 85 percent of the vote. At least two people died and 12 were wounded when a passenger train travelling from Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville was attacked near Kinkembo, some 150 km west of the capital. Passenger train services have been suspended since then. The railway is Brazzaville's main commercial link to the country's coastal economic capital, Pointe-Noire.