CONGO-DEM.REPUBLIC 8/6/2004 16:06 BUKAVU CRISIS: FIGHTING UNDERWAY AT DOORS OF CITY General, Brief Fighting is underway at the doors of Bukavu, capital of the South Kivu province in south-east Democratic Republic of Congo. The news is referred by MISNA sources in various zones of the city, specifying that the protagonists of the fighting are the men of the 10th military region of the new Congolese unified armed forces, lead by commander Mbudja MabÃ, and troops of âmutinousâ soldiers loyal to Colonel Jules Mutebusi that never left the city seized six days ago. Based on received information, the clashes are taking place particularly in the south-western and southern zones of the city. The presence of Congolese regular troops is already indicated as stable in zones such as Bagira and Panzi, a few kilometres from Bukavu. Elements of a militia known as âMudundu 40â (M40) are also apparently involved in the fighting, though it is unknown on which side. Already in the past days rumours were circulating on a possible counterattack by Congolese regular forces to regain control of the city, seized June 2 by the men of Mutebusi and General Laurent Nkunda, the other officer that ârebelledâ at the end of May. MISNA sources underline that Nkunda is apparently already in Goma, capital of North Kivu, where also his soldiers should arrive in the next hours. Both Nkunda and Mutebusi are from the lines of the RCD-Goma, the former pro-Rwandan rebel movements that at the time of the war controlled a large part of east DR-Congo and currently part of the new government of national unity foreseen by the peace accords. [BO]
