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| Africa Subsaharan |
| DR Congo Clashes Leave 40 Dead |
| 2013-05-17 |
| [An Nahar] Violent festivities between rebels and soldiers in the restive east of 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 aka 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. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... have left 40 people dead, government and military officials said Thursday. Fighting broke out between Mai-Mai militia and government troops on Wednesday in the town of Beni, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, Colonel Richard Bisamaza said. Government front man Lambert Mende told a presser that 32 militia fighters were killed as well as eight soldiers. Bisamaza earlier told Agence La Belle France Presse the Mai Mai -- a generic term for a number of local militia groups -- attacked army buildings to try to free a number of their colleagues who had been locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! and were being held there. However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... they fled after an hour of exchanging gunfire. North Kivu lies in unstable eastern DR Congo, and is dominated by armed movements including the M23 rebels, a group the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... suspects of receiving financial support from Rwanda and Uganda. Both countries deny the accusation. With government attention focused over the past year on battling the M23, other militia such as the Mai Mai -- which come from a force known as Katakatanga seeking the secession of Katanga province -- have been able to proliferate in both North Kivu and neighboring South Kivu province. DR Congo has ramped up its efforts to tackle these armed movements. |
| Posted by:Fred |