Kigali - A Congolese rebel leader said yesterday his forces had driven government troops out of a heavily contested north-western town after five days of fighting.
Mr Jean Pierre Bemba, leader of the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), said his forces had seized the town of Dongo on Sunday night and killed 43 soldiers loyal to Congolese president Mr Laurent Kabila. A spokesman for the Democratic Republic of Congo gave the government version of the fighting, describing the enemy as foreign forces rather than rebels.