Rwanda accused of sending troops into DR Congo, Andrew Legon

Andrew Legon — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:04:20 +0100

Rwanda has been accused of sending its troops across the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo and threatening the eastern city of Goma. Reports suggest the Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, backed by Rwandan soldiers, crossed the border three days ago. UN peacekeepers have reported heavy fighting around an army base at the border village of Rumangabo, near Goma.

The toD verdict: Fighting resumed in August between Nkunda's forces and the Congolese army, despite a peace deal signed in January. Last week, the rebel leader announced he would escalate his 4-year-old revolt. Nkunda has led a rebellion in North Kivu in defence of Congo's minority Tutsi community which has been terrorized by Rwandan rebels known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Formed from ethnic Hutu extremists, who fled to DR Congo after the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Nkunda claims the FDLR are supported by the DRC's army. Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.

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Rwanda agrees. According to Rwanda's UN Ambassador Joseph Nsengimana, only last week Kigali sent a letter to the DRC citing reports of collusion between Congolese troops and the FDLR. He denied that any of its troops are inside the DR Congo. However, Rwanda has twice invaded its neighbour on similar pretexts.

It is clear that the presence of FDLR rebels in DR Congo lies at the heart of years of recent unrest in the region, including this fresh humanitarian crisis which is brewing, with more than 100,000 people already fleeing the clashes. The DRC government has said it is ready to disarm the Hutu rebels, and should make good on this promise. Doing so would greatly improve regional prospects for peace, security and stability.

Pakistan troops kill 20 militants in tribal area

At least twenty Al Qaeda-linked militants, eight of them foreigners, were killed in Bajaur region Wednesday. Pakistani helicopter gunships hit rebel hideouts in a tribal region near the Afghan border.

Pakistani troops launched a major offensive in the region against Islamic militants in August triggering the Red Cross to classify the area as a war zone. Earlier this week Pakistan ordered the deportation of 50,000 Afghan refugees which they claim are linked to militant groups.

The Pakistani military says more than 1,000 rebel fighters have been killed since it launched its offensive in Bajaur in early August, including Al Qaeda's operational commander in the region, the Egyptian Abu Saeed Al-Masri.

Suicide bomb kills 10 in Iraq

Ten people were killed and twenty seven wounded on Wednesday after a suicide bomber blew herself up in the capital of Diyala Province, Iraq. This attack, near the Court of Appeals building in Baquba, was the seventeenth by a woman in Diyala this year. A police official speculated that the bomber's failed target appeared to have been Uday al-Khadran, a leading member of the Shia party the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. Inter-communal tensions run high in Diyala; Shia power in the province is deeply resented by the majority Sunni population.

The attack came a day after Iraqi security forces arrested a woman accused of heading up the recruitment of female suicide bombers.

North Korea prepares missile test

South Korea's military is on high alert today. Local newspapers have reported that North Korea is preparing an unprecedented mass test-launch of ten short-range missiles from the island navy base of Chodo.

Analysts are speculating whether the incident is a response to the South's current armed forces celebrations, or may be related to the anniversary of North Korea's ruling communist party, on Friday. Others argue the sabre-rattling is a deliberate tactic used by Pyongyang in its dispute with the US over nuclear disarmament. On Wednesday, South Korea's top military official, Gen Kim Tae-young, said he believed the North was trying to develop a nuclear warhead to fit on a missile. North Korea tested a nuclear device in October 2006, but it was not believed that any of the bombs were small enough to be fitted onto a missile.

Car bomb explodes at Islamabad Police HQ

A suspected suicide car bombing demolished a building at an Islamabad police headquarters today. Casualty figures are currently unclear. The attack happened as intelligence and military chiefs were briefing lawmakers on the campaign against Islamist extremists, in a rare hearing at the parliament building about three kilometres from the explosion. Pakistan faces a rising tide of militant activity. Less than three weeks ago, a suicide truck bombing at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad killed 60 people in one of the worst terror attacks in Pakistan's history.

Yom Kippur riots in Acre

Inter-communal riots broke out in Acre today after an Israeli Arab man drove his car during the Yom Kippur religious holiday. The driver, who claimed he was simply returning to a property he owned in the East of the city, was attacked by youths who said he was making noise intentionally. In much of Israel it is considered offensive to drive during Yom Kippur, a Jewish day of fasting. Rioting erupted between Arabs and Jews, with hundreds of people taking to the streets and damaging cars and shops. The city has a highly mixed population. "We will deal with all the rioters and those who take the law into their own hands with an iron fist," the head of the Acre police station, Chief Superintendent Avi Edri.

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Rwanda accused of sending troops into DR Congo, Andrew Legon