CONGO:UN peacekeepers in Congo yesterday blocked an advance against an eastern city by soldiers loyal to a renegade general as the Supreme Court prepared to deliver its verdict on a contested presidential election result.
Indian troops, part of the world's biggest UN peacekeeping force deployed in Democratic Republic of Congo, went into action against soldiers loyal to dissident general Laurent Nkunda who moved towards the provincial capital, Goma, an officer said.
The UN forces were using ground troops, armoured vehicles and helicopter gunships to battle Gen Nkunda's fighters in two separate engagements, said Maj Ajay Dalal, spokesman for the Indian peacekeepers in eastern North Kivu province.
"The advance towards Goma has been stalled," Maj Dalal said, adding that the Indian UN peacekeepers were also fighting Gen Nkunda's men outside the town of Sake, where the rebels pushed back Congolese government troops on Sunday.
Gen Nkunda's soldiers are members of the former Congolese army, who refused to join a new integrated national army after the 1998-2003 war. The fighting, which started at the weekend, has killed at least five people so far, including civilians, and injured at least 70 more.
It came as Congo's Supreme Court in Kinshasa prepared to rule on a formal challenge against provisional election results showing that incumbent Joseph Kabila won last month's presidential election.
The challenge, filed by former rebel chief Jean-Pierre Bemba, has raised tensions in the capital, where Mr Bemba's supporters rioted last week.