KINSHASA – U.N. attack helicopters hit rebel positions in eastern Congo
on Saturday after insurgents gained ground in heavy fighting with
government troops an d took control of a town, the United Nations said.
The
clashes to the south of the town Kibumba mean the rebels have advanced
to within 30 km (18 miles) of Goma, the closest they have been to North
Kivu’s provincial capital since a rebellion exploded in the eastern
provinces eight months ago.
North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku said the army retreated to the
southern outskirts of the town after M23 rebels – a group of soldiers
who mutinied in April – advanced.
“Kibumba has fallen into the hands of the M23,” a spokesman for the U.N.
Department of Peacekeeping Operations said in an email. “Latest reports
indicate that the FARDC (Congo’s army) and MONUSCO (U.N.) forces are
attempting to hold off a possible M23 advance toward Goma at Kibati,
some 20 km north of Goma.”
“We are very concerned by reports that the M23 attacking forces appear to be well-equipped and supplied.”
The spokesman added that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called
Congolese Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda on Saturday to voice
support for Kinshasa, and Rwandan President Paul Kagame to urge him to
“use his influence on the M23 to help calm the situation and restrain
the M23 from continuing their attack.”
The French U.N. mission in New York called an emergency closed-door meeting of the Security Council on the escalating violence.
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