Kamanyola back under government control

Government forces have re-entered the town of Kamanyola in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after the withdrawal of dissident soldiers loyal to Col Jules Mutebutsi, military and humanitarian officials said on Tuesday. "There was no rebel fighting; they did not leave with bullets flying over their heads," Sebastien Lapierre, a spokesman for the UN Mission in the DRC, told IRIN. "They left, and the following morning we received word from Rwandan authorities that Mutebutsi and 300 of his men were in Rwanda," he added. Lapierre said Mutebutsi's troops withdrew on Sunday night from the town in the province of South Kivu. The commander of government forces in South Kivu, Gen Mbuza Mabe, said his troops entered it late Monday morning.

Col. Jules Mutebutsi (r) speaking to a UN military observer in a camp inside Rwanda. In the background are members of his force

Kamanyola had been under Mutebutsi's control since 8 June when his forces, along with those of another dissident officer, Gen Laurent Nkunda, ended a weeklong occupation of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu. On 6 June, Rwanda closed it borders with the DRC after Congolese President Joseph Kabila accused Kigali of being directly involved in the occupation of Bukavu. Other ministers and military officials have repeated the same accusation. "We do not need to wait for a statement from Kigali to have proof of Rwanda's involvement," Henri Mova, Congo’s vice-minister of foreign affaires, said in Kinshasa. However, Rwanda has denied any involvement and has asked the UN and the African Union to investigate the DRC's claims. "The officers and soldiers involved in the events in Bukavu were all Congolese and the government of the DRC is challenged to prove otherwise," the Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said in a statement last week. Lapierre told IRIN that the return of government forces to Kamanyola had not created a significant refugee or internally displaced person (IDP) situation. He said residents fled and became refugees or IDPs long before dissident soldiers left the town. Meanwhile, a Rwandan army spokesman said Mutebutsi and his 304 men crossed into Rwanda late Monday and were being held in a military camp 20 km inside Rwanda’s Cyagungu Province, which borders the DRC.

UN military observers inspect weapons seized on 22 June from Congolese army dissident leader Col. Jules Mutebutsi, by the Rwandan army on Tuesday

"Their status is being determined. They have been confined close to a military camp and we have contacted UNHCR and ICRC to handle them," Col Patrick Karegeya, the Rwanda army spokesman, told IRIN. He said Rwanda agreed to give Mutebutsi refuge for humanitarian reasons. Mutebutsi told reporters he was forced to abandon Kamanyola after a UN helicopter fired at his troops, killing five and wounding seven seriously. "MONUC bombarded my side with a helicopter gunship. They killed my soldiers and are the very reason behind my fleeing," he said. "You wanted to kill me, that's why I fled," he added, pointing at two UN military observers who interviewed him inside Rwanda. However, UN military spokesman Maj Abou Thiam said in Kinshasa on Monday: "We were forced to retaliate when Mutebutsi's men opened fire on a MONUC helicopter that was carrying out a mission to verify the presence of landmines on the road to Kamanyola." On the Net: UN troops return fire on dissident soldiers