Rwanda Troops Marching To Ituri -Security
Apr 05, 2003
SECURITY sources in Kampala yesterday claimed that two brigades of Rwandan soldiers had taken control of Bunyantenge and Muhanga towns in Lubero zone in North Kivu province.<br>
By Emmy Allio
SECURITY sources in Kampala yesterday claimed that two brigades of Rwandan soldiers had taken control of Bunyantenge and Muhanga towns in Lubero zone in North Kivu province.
Congolese church leaders, politicians and traders said Rwandan soldiers commanded by officers of the Kigali-backed RCD-Goma rebels were matching northwards to Ituri district and Kasese in Uganda.
Over 100,000 people in Butembo and over 20,000 people in Kanyabayonga and Lubero on Wednesday demonstrated against what they said was a Rwandan invasion.
The protestors accused the United Nations Observer Mission In Congo (MONUC) of conniving with the Rwandans in the Kigali government?s plot to ?colonise? Congo.
Bishop Melchisedek Sikuli of Butembo on Wednesday said demonstrators destroyed two vehicles belonging MONUC, damaged a third and destroyed MONUC offices in Lubero and Kanyabayonga.
Sikuli said villages occupied by the Rwandans include Kyavingonge, Bingi and the southern parts of Maiko National Parks.
He said, ?I have learnt that the Rwandan army wants to link with UPC near Irumu to fight the UPDF in Ituri. The international community should turn its attention on this Rwandan aggression.?
He said Rwandan soldiers had been seen last weekend in Kirumba, Kayla and Kanyambayonga in the Lubero area of North Kivu Province on their way back into the DRC.
He said thousands of people were fleeing the reported incursion and that 152 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had arrived in Kyimba, having fled Pinga in the Walikale area, where the presence of Rwandan soldiers was first reported.
He said another 1,227 IDPs from Pinga had arrived in Kayla on Wednesday.
?MONUC are liars. We see Rwandan soldiers, but MONUC tells us that the invaders are RCD-Goma. We also know that RCD-Goma has no army. We shall resist the invasion,? the source in Butembo said on a Satelite link.
MONUC yesterday denounced a spate of attacks against its forces in three locations in North Kivu Province.
In a statement from its Kinshasa headquarters, MONUC said demonstrators dressed as students attacked its base at Kanyabayonga on Wednesday, looting equipment from buildings housing MONUC observers.
In a similar attack in Lubero, property belonging to the mission was destroyed.
On Tuesday, demonstrators took part in an anti-MONUC march in Beni. The statement described ?such acts of vandalism? against the peacekeepers as ?unacceptable? and in violation of international agreements.
?We have upto-date information that Rwanda sent two brigades recently and disguised them by giving them an RCD-Goma commander. The Rwanda Defence Forces are mixed with the People?s Redemption Army (PRA),? a Ugandan security source said.
The sources said the RDF and PRA intend to overrun Butembo and Beni and then confront the UPDF in Kasese and in Ituri where they hope to link with Thomas Lubanga?s Union for Patriotic Congolese rebels.
The pro-Kinshasa government RCD-ML led by Mbusa Nyamwisi and Bishop Sikuli, said Rwandan soldiers numbering 3,000 are headed by an RCD-Goma officer called Bonane.
Security sources said Rwanda had moved over 20,000 soldiers from its second and third divisions on the borders with Uganda and Congo and the forces are ready to join those inside the DRC.
Sources said RDF?s 503rd brigade is in Nyakatare, 201st brigade in Byumba, 205th brigade in south Byumba, 405th brigade in Ruhengeri and 402nd brigade is in Gisengyi.
?Despite this mounting RDF and PRA presence, the UPDF has not increased its troops by even a soldier. We want the global community to see the true colours of the Rwandans,? a military officer said.
Defence minister Amama Mbabazi recently condemned the presence of Kinshasa soldiers in Beni and Butembo saying it was a violation of the Lusaka agreement.
On Friday, Rwanda denied that its troops had entered the DRC.
Rwandan special envoy for the DRC Patrick Mazimpaka told the UN news agency, IRIN, that civilians might have mistaken members of some of the fighting groups in eastern DRC for Rwandans.Ends
SECURITY sources in Kampala yesterday claimed that two brigades of Rwandan soldiers had taken control of Bunyantenge and Muhanga towns in Lubero zone in North Kivu province.
Congolese church leaders, politicians and traders said Rwandan soldiers commanded by officers of the Kigali-backed RCD-Goma rebels were matching northwards to Ituri district and Kasese in Uganda.
Over 100,000 people in Butembo and over 20,000 people in Kanyabayonga and Lubero on Wednesday demonstrated against what they said was a Rwandan invasion.
The protestors accused the United Nations Observer Mission In Congo (MONUC) of conniving with the Rwandans in the Kigali government?s plot to ?colonise? Congo.
Bishop Melchisedek Sikuli of Butembo on Wednesday said demonstrators destroyed two vehicles belonging MONUC, damaged a third and destroyed MONUC offices in Lubero and Kanyabayonga.
Sikuli said villages occupied by the Rwandans include Kyavingonge, Bingi and the southern parts of Maiko National Parks.
He said, ?I have learnt that the Rwandan army wants to link with UPC near Irumu to fight the UPDF in Ituri. The international community should turn its attention on this Rwandan aggression.?
He said Rwandan soldiers had been seen last weekend in Kirumba, Kayla and Kanyambayonga in the Lubero area of North Kivu Province on their way back into the DRC.
He said thousands of people were fleeing the reported incursion and that 152 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had arrived in Kyimba, having fled Pinga in the Walikale area, where the presence of Rwandan soldiers was first reported.
He said another 1,227 IDPs from Pinga had arrived in Kayla on Wednesday.
?MONUC are liars. We see Rwandan soldiers, but MONUC tells us that the invaders are RCD-Goma. We also know that RCD-Goma has no army. We shall resist the invasion,? the source in Butembo said on a Satelite link.
MONUC yesterday denounced a spate of attacks against its forces in three locations in North Kivu Province.
In a statement from its Kinshasa headquarters, MONUC said demonstrators dressed as students attacked its base at Kanyabayonga on Wednesday, looting equipment from buildings housing MONUC observers.
In a similar attack in Lubero, property belonging to the mission was destroyed.
On Tuesday, demonstrators took part in an anti-MONUC march in Beni. The statement described ?such acts of vandalism? against the peacekeepers as ?unacceptable? and in violation of international agreements.
?We have upto-date information that Rwanda sent two brigades recently and disguised them by giving them an RCD-Goma commander. The Rwanda Defence Forces are mixed with the People?s Redemption Army (PRA),? a Ugandan security source said.
The sources said the RDF and PRA intend to overrun Butembo and Beni and then confront the UPDF in Kasese and in Ituri where they hope to link with Thomas Lubanga?s Union for Patriotic Congolese rebels.
The pro-Kinshasa government RCD-ML led by Mbusa Nyamwisi and Bishop Sikuli, said Rwandan soldiers numbering 3,000 are headed by an RCD-Goma officer called Bonane.
Security sources said Rwanda had moved over 20,000 soldiers from its second and third divisions on the borders with Uganda and Congo and the forces are ready to join those inside the DRC.
Sources said RDF?s 503rd brigade is in Nyakatare, 201st brigade in Byumba, 205th brigade in south Byumba, 405th brigade in Ruhengeri and 402nd brigade is in Gisengyi.
?Despite this mounting RDF and PRA presence, the UPDF has not increased its troops by even a soldier. We want the global community to see the true colours of the Rwandans,? a military officer said.
Defence minister Amama Mbabazi recently condemned the presence of Kinshasa soldiers in Beni and Butembo saying it was a violation of the Lusaka agreement.
On Friday, Rwanda denied that its troops had entered the DRC.
Rwandan special envoy for the DRC Patrick Mazimpaka told the UN news agency, IRIN, that civilians might have mistaken members of some of the fighting groups in eastern DRC for Rwandans.Ends