Mutineers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo or
Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. It's principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
on Sunday seized control of three towns in the country's eastern Nord-Kivu province, Agence La Belle France Presse reported.
The rebels, known as M23, took Rutshuru and the towns of Ntamugenga and Rubare, less than 10 kilometers away on the road to the scenic provincial capital Goma, shortly after 12:00 pm local time (1000 GMT).
The rebels said they did not face any opposition from Congolese government troops (FARDC).
"Our men have just taken the town of Rutshuru. On Saturday evening the FARDC came down to our position at Mbuzi. We decided to pursue them and they lost Ntamugenag, then we came down Rubare," M23 front man Lieutenant Colonel Vianney Kazarama told AFP.
Sporadic gunfire was later heard in Rutshuru but it may have been celebratory shots had gun sex.
Eight peacekeepers from the U.N.'s mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) fled Rutshuru for a U.N. base five kilometers away in Kiwanja, close to which numerous local inhabitants have set up refugee camps.
Last week a MONUSCO peacekeeper from India was fatally injured in combat between the Congolese army and M23 rebels renegade military group, comprised of former Tutsi rebels, in Bunagana, a town near the Ugandan border about 20 kilometers south of Rutshuru.
Bunagana fell into rebel hands after the clash, according to the M23 front man and local civilians, causing around 600 Congolese soldiers to flee into Uganda.
Two months of fighting in the resource-rich region has pitted government troops against former Congolese Tutsi rebels, who were integrated into the army but defected this year and formed the M23 rebel movement.