Forces loyal to a renegade commander have captured the Congolese city of Bukavu from government troops today after several hours of fighting.
Rebel commander Colonel Jules Mutebutsi said many government forces had defected to his faction after fighting in the centre of Bukavu that erupted before dawn. It was not possible to independently verify his claims.
"We are in control of the whole of Bukavu and government Brigadier General Mbuza Mabe has fled the city," Mutebutsi said . "Many of his troops have joined us, others have shed their uniforms and are staying at their homes and a few have fled with Mabe."
Residents of Bukavu, a city of 168,000, said they could hear sporadic gunfire and saw men looting shops and houses. A UN official said it appeared that government troops had fled outside the
city.
Kurdura Kasongo, President Joseph Kabila's spokesman, neither confirmed nor denied that the renegades had taken Bukavu.
"The situation is what it is in Bukavu," Kasongo said in Kinshasa, Congo 's capital. "We have to wait until the government meets later on to see what will be decided."
Other government officials accused neighbouring Rwanda of sending troops into the region.
Rwanda backed the rebel group, the Congolese Rally for Democracy, during the five year Congo civil war. Mutebutsi was a member of that group, which controlled large parts of eastern and north-eastern Congo during the conflict.
The civil conflict ended last June when the rebels and the government set up a transitional administration and agreed that rebel fighters would be integrated into a new national army. But some rebel commanders, including Mutebutsi, have since fallen out with government commanders.
Bukavu and the surrounding areas have been plagued by instability because of disputes between members of the former rebel group - and Mabe's government forces.
While other parts of Congo have remained relatively stable since the end of the conflict, eastern and north-eastern parts of Africa's third largest country have continued to be beset by violence.
The latest fighting could derail the peace process if it spreads.
PA