RCD rebels fighting to cut supply lines

Rebels of the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD)are fighting their way towards two key government supply lines with a view to taking control of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) border with Zambia. Reuters on Sunday quoted Zambian, rebel and intelligence sources as saying the rebels were forcing government troops to flee into Zambia with the intention of then turning back to take over key government areas. Up to 8,000 troops loyal to President Laurent-Desire Kabila of the DRC and 60,000 civilians had already fled from the fighting in the area and crossed into Zambia, the agency reported. Zambian intelligence sources were quoted as saying that “the rebels were pushing steadily towards the tiny DRC border town of Mulilo”, which was “the main government supply access on Lake Tanganyika” and still heavily defended by DRC government forces.

Further south, the report said, government forces were “massed on the shores of Lake Mweru near Kilwa Island” - another government supply line, according to a senior Zambian intelligence officer, whom the agency did not name. “There is a lot of fighting taking place,” the agency quoted him as saying. An unnamed RCD commander told Reuters from Lupia, a border post 1,250 km northwest of of the Zambian capital, Lusaka, in an area disputed between Zambia and the DRC: “We are moving with this offensive.”

The RCD said at the end of last week that it was now in control of the towns of Pweto, Mutotomoya, Moba Pepa and Kalemie, all in Katanga Province, southeastern DRC. The rebel-controlled radio from Goma quoted the chief of the RCD’s armed wing, Commander Sylvain Buki, as saying this after ending a month-long tour of these towns.

Meanwhile, on Monday, 3,700 DRC soldiers were placed under heavy guard by Zambian troops in four schools in Nchelenge in Zambia’s Northern Province. This was done after “tension and insecurity mounted among residents there”, ‘The Times of Zambia’ reported. They had been disarmed “after several days of resistance”, according to the report. “Their heavy military hardware, which includess rocket-propelled grenades, antitank grenades and machine guns, has been stashed in one place”, and were being guarded by Zambian soldiers, the newspaper said