Many more DRC troops flee to Zambia to escape fighting

The number of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) troops that have fled to northern Zambia since Sunday is now well over 600, a UNHCR representative told IRIN on Wednesday. “But we are getting reports of an entire brigade of DRC soldiers, numbering up to 3,000 who have crossed but are still out in the bush,” John Tabayi, Head of Mission, UNHCR Kwambwa told IRIN. The soldiers, along with thousands of civilians, escaped fierce fighting between Rwandan-backed Congolese rebels and forces loyal to President Laurent Desire Kabila in and around the DRC port town of Pweto on the border with Zambia.

Tabayi said that refugees arriving at Chiengi, the nearest town to Pweto on the Zambian side of the border, told him that Pweto had definitely fallen to rebel forces. The capture of Pweto, has put the town of Kasenga, under rebel threat. Kasenga is a gateway to Lubumbashi, the capital of the mineral-rich Katanga province and the country’s second largest city. But Tabayi could not confirm news reports on Tuesday that Zimbabwean troops had also fled Pweto and were now in Zambia. “On Tuesday, I saw some of the soldiers who arrived in Chiengi, none identified themselves as Zimbabwean and my information is that they are all Congolese government troops,” he said.

Only 10,000 refugees were confirmed to have arrived in the northern Zambian border town of Chiengi on Tuesday, but UNHCR in Lusaka said that they were expecting that as many as 100,000 people could be uprooted by ongoing fighting in DRC’s Katanga province.
The refugees are being transferred from Chiengi to a refugee camp at Kala, some 140 km inland, where UNHCR said it was rushing more staff and supplies.