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Clashes flare in eastern DR Congo Congo troops sent to quell rebels
(about 17 hours later)
Thousands of people have fled from clashes in the east of DR Congo between government troops and soldiers allied to a renegade general, the UN says. The Democratic Republic of Congo has sent troop reinforcements to try and put down a rebellion in the east.
A UN spokeswoman said rebels loyal to General Laurent Nkunda battled for five hours to seize a military base in Nord Kivu province early on Thursday. The government has also ordered rebels loyal to a renegade general to lay down their arms and go to training centres of the national army.
Several people were hit by bullets but the army did not confirm casualties. The call came shortly after the rebel soldiers allied to General Laurent Nkunda attacked government troops in the troubled North Kivu province.
About 165,000 people have fled clashes between government forces and rebels since January. Thousands of people have fled their homes since the clashes intensified.
The rebels were members of a mixed brigade created to integrate rebels into the Congolese army, but which fell apart after a series of desertions. A UN military spokesman confirmed that the government troops are being sent on Monuc helicopters to an area near Katale, the headquarters of the brigade that was stormed by General Laurent Nkunda's rebel soldiers on Thursday.
Warnings Since Monday, hundreds of rebel troops loyal to the ethnic Tutsi general have launched three attacks.
Bandits
The BBC's Arnaud Zajtman in Kinshasa says witnesses at the airport in the eastern regional capital Goma have seen the government troop reinforcements flying in.
IN PICTURES Elusive peace in east CongoIN PICTURES Elusive peace in east Congo
The attack, by about 1,500 rebels, targeted a military base in Masisi, a few kilometres from the city of Goma. DR Congo Defence Minister Tshikez Djemu said late on Thursday that if the former rebels refused to lay down their arms, they would be considered bandits and be dealt with accordingly by the army.
"Monuc [the UN mission in DR Congo] has reinforced its troops in Masisi and spent the night ceaselessly calling on both sides to end hostilities", UN spokeswoman Sylvie van den Wildenberg told AFP news agency. Tension is nothing new to North Kivu but it has suddenly increased after the government's decision to dismantle what are known as the mixed brigades, our correspondent says.
General Nkunda has been leading a rebellion in the east against the country's elected government, which he accuses of promoting ethnic hatred. These brigades, created earlier this year, were made up of government soldiers and more than 7,000 former rebels.
The dissident general argues that his troops are protecting the ethnic Tutsis from an extremist Hutu militia accused of leading the 1994 Rwandan genocide, who operate freely in the east. They joined the brigades on condition that they would remain deployed as a group to protect their own community, the Tutsis, against Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom took part in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis.
The government has called off operations against the militias, sparking protests from General Nkunda and the Rwandan government. But since the beginning of this year, military operations launched by the mixed brigades against the Hutu rebels have created more instability and the UN says more than 170,000 civilians have been displaced.
Last Friday the UN warned that increasing violent unrest in the east of the country could spark a huge increase in the numbers of people fleeing the fighting. Mr Djemu said the mixed brigades would now be dismantled and the former Tutsi rebels deployed to other parts of DR Congo.
And last month, UN peacekeeping head Jean-Marie Guehenno warned that forces allied to General Nkunda posed a serious threat to stability in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. But so far most of those rebels have refused to lay down their arms or to leave the protection of their community to other units of the Congolese army, our correspondent says.
Last year's historic elections, which saw Joseph Kabila elected president, were supposed to mark the end of years of conflict and mismanagement in DR Congo.Last year's historic elections, which saw Joseph Kabila elected president, were supposed to mark the end of years of conflict and mismanagement in DR Congo.