Army retakes Katanga mining town

Government officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have announced that troops regained control of the mining town of Kilwa from insurgents on Friday in the southeastern province of Katanga.

"Soldiers took the insurgents by surprise, killing twenty or thirty," Chikez Diemu, the vice-governor of Katanga, said.

Troop reinforcements came from the nearby town of Pweto.

The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF’s) coordinator for the Great Lakes, Luc Nicolas, said MSF staff were forced to evacuate Kilwa temporarily, but that a two-person team was returning "to the area" to investigate aid requirements of the population in the aftermath of the incident.

"Reports have indicated that anywhere between nine and 150 civilians have been killed and that many more have been displaced," he said.

Diemu said civilians fled by boat across Lake Mweru to Zambia. Nine of them reportedly drowned when their canoe capsized. He said eight of the combatants had been captured and that authorities should be able to confirm their identities after interrogations were complete. However, he said the suspicion was that they were Mayi-Mayi militiamen from an island in Lake Mweru.

Nicolas said last week’s attack was "only the latest in a long line of incidents" over the past months and years.

"Each clash results in yet another population displacement, adding only more problems and uncertainty for the already impoverished local people," he said.