The rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the capital Kinshasa for the first time yesterday, where the government imposed a curfew while it tackled "invaders" claiming to control parts of the city.
The curfew, announced by the official Voice of the People radio, followed air and artillery strikes in the morning against rebels east of the capital.
Earlier one of the Tutsi-led rebellion's leaders, Mr Bizima Karaha, said that rebel forces had entered Kinshasa, controlled parts of it and had attacked the airport.
Other rebel leaders said they had taken Kalemie in the south-east Katanga province, and denied government claims they had been kicked out of Kisangani, in the north-east, and the port town of Matadi.
In Kigali meanwhile, Rwanda said it was ready to intervene militarily in the Congo in what has increasingly become an inter national conflict since the Tutsiled rebellion began on August 2nd.
Angola and Zimbabwe have both sent troops to support the President, Mr Laurent Kabila, while Uganda and Tutsi-dominated Rwanda are supporting the rebels, although both deny any active involvement.
Mr Patrick Mazimpaka, the minister in the Rwandan president's office, said Kigali was ready to intervene to protect Rwandan or Tutsi populations.
It was Angolan warplanes and helicopters which supported Congolese artillery in the attempt to flush out rebel pockets near Kinshasa.
Most shops, offices and public buildings were closed and the army put up many roadblocks, searching vehicles and advising people to return home.
The artillery fire that raged through much of the morning died down in the afternoon to enable ground troops to track down concealed invasion forces, a source close to the president's office said.
Angolan military planes were seen on the tarmac at the airport, which was guarded by Zimbabwean troops, who have also been sent in to protect the city and its supply routes.
Witnesses reported that more than 200 rebel fighters had surrendered during the mopping-up operations run jointly by Congolese, Angolan and Zimbabwean forces.
The rebels, mainly army soldiers who had defected, surrendered at a Roman Catholic mission at Sanda, 40 km south-west of Kinshasa on the road to Matadi.
Mr Karaha, Mr Kabila's foreign minister until he defected, had earlier said that "our troops are in Kinshasa, they have attacked the airport and control certain parts of the city". He said Zimbabwean troops and Mr Kabila's soldiers were in disarray.
He also claimed at least 50 Zimbabwean soldiers had been killed on Monday at Kasangulu, a few km south of the capital, and that the rebels had repelled a Congolese and Zimbabwean attack.
The government for its part claims its forces and allies have recaptured the towns of Matadi, Moanda, Boma and Banana, Atlantic Ocean or Congo river ports vital to Kinshasa.
Mr Kabila himself paid tribute "to the brotherly armies of Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe who have chosen the path of reason and good sense to assist us so that hope doubles in strength in our country". Zimbabwe has openly justified intervention, Angola has all but officially admitted its own while Namibia has remained silent.
On the diplomatic front meanwhile, a South African-led diplomatic mission had talks in Addis Ababa with Organisation of African Unity (OAU) chief, Mr Salim Ahmed Salim.
South Africa's Mr Alfred Nzo headed a team of foreign ministers from Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania meeting Mr Salim with a view to going with him to the capitals of Angola and the Congo to try to broker a peaceful resolution.
However in Harare, President Robert Mugabe branded as "hypocrites" fellow southern African leaders trying to reach a diplomatic solution, saying they were "supping with the rebels," the official ZIANA news agency reported.