CONGO: Renegade rebels marched towards the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu yesterday, plunging the region into a fresh round of chaos and threatening the Democratic Republic of Congo's fragile peace process writes Declan Walsh in Butare, Rwanda.
Renegade rebels marched towards the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu yesterday, plunging the region into a fresh round of chaos and threatening the Democratic Republic of Congo's fragile peace process.
An estimated 1,000 soldiers loyal to Brig Gen Laurent Nkunda had established positions on a lakeside road about 18 miles north of the city, said Mr Sebastien Lapierre, a UN spokesman in Bukavu.
Brig Gen Nkunda earlier pushed Congolese army soldiers past Kavumu airport, four miles to the north, but left a large UN peacekeeping contingent in charge of the airstrip.
The sudden advance sparked alarm in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, where calm had just been restored following three days of fighting last week that claimed over 27 lives, including one UN peacekeeper.
Yesterday the UN evacuated all non-essential staff from Bukavu. An estimated 2,000 Congolese refugees had already fled across the border into neighbouring Rwanda.
"The UN is now concentrating on opening dialogue, with Nkunda as well as the transitional government, to stop the advance and to prevent further fighting," said Mr Lapierre.
Another UN official, speaking by telephone from the city, described the situation as "chaotic and confused", adding that "nobody is sure what's really happening". The violent outbreak is the latest blow to a peace deal supposed to end a six-year war that has caused over 3.5 million deaths, mostly from disease and starvation.
The renegade fighters hail from the Congolese Rally For Democracy (RCD), the main rebel group that signed a power-sharing agreement with President Joseph Kabila's government last June. But some RCD military officers have been openly hostile towards the deal.
In an interview with The Irish Times last November, Brig Gen Nkunda said that his Banyamulenge ethnic group had been "marginalised" by the peace deal.
Rising tensions could "blow" if not acted upon, he warned.
That threat was realised last Wednesday when troops loyal to another Banyamulenge commander, Col Jules Mutebusi, mutinied against the Congolese army in Bukavu. Three days of heavy fighting ensued. Shops were looted and several rape cases were reported. At least 27 people died and 81 were wounded.
UN peacekeepers restored calm by opening fire and by Sunday night had established a front line down the main street and shepherded the rebel soldiers back to barracks.
But last night, the city was again under threat. UN officials said the Congolese army was suffering from defections, and efforts by the transitional government to negotiate an end to the crisis were also hampered.