The Guardian, Rutshuru, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE Congo
Peace accords that were to put an end to the conflicts that killed millions in the Democratic Republic of Congo were collapsing after a powerful renegade Tutsi general declared war on the government.
The UN has started airlifting thousands of government troops into the eastern Kivu region, which has endured two foreign invasions and more than a decade of civil war. As many as 4 million people have died in the conflicts.
Fighting has renewed after General Laurent Nkunda pulled thousands of his men out of the national army last week, just months after they were integrated under the peace accords and began attacking government troops whom he accused of collaborating with Hutu forces that fled into Congo after carrying out the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda.
Nkunda said he has gone back to war to protect the hundreds of thousands of Tutsis who live in the Kivu region and are still targeted by Hutu rebels. But the UN peacekeeping force in the Congo has thrown its support behind the government's claim that Nkunda is a "bandit," raising the prospect of another major conflict.
UN helicopters left Goma in relays carrying government soldiers to Masisi, where the army is under siege from a much larger and better trained force under Nkunda. Scores of men have been killed.
Nkunda told the BBC's Africa service that his forces captured members of the 7,000 strong Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) -- the Rwandan Hutu extremist rebel group that has been killing Tutsis in the region -- and handed them over to the UN.
"For me, it's a state of war ... we have prisoners of war from the FDLR who were attacking with the government troops," he said.
Congolese Defense Minister Tshikez Djemu said that if Nkunda does not lay down his arms he and his army will be considered bandits and attacked.
Thousands of civilians fled their homes in Masisi and from towns such as Rutshuru, where Nkunda has much of his 8,000-strong army. Soldiers at his local headquarters in Rutshuru had stripped off their government uniforms and changed into outfits similar to the Rwandan army's. Some spoke English, no?t French, suggesting they were Tutsis of Rwandan origin, raised in exile in Uganda or Tanzania.
The UN accused Nkunda's forces of killings and rapes in fighting with the FDLR that has driven up to 200,000 people from their homes in recent months.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande was expected in Kinshasa yesterday for a rare high-level meeting between the two countries, which continue to have tense relations after two Rwandan invasions.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was