Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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October 28, 2008

Rebels Continue Offensive in Eastern DRC
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1EFE1AD:A6F02AD83191E1603391561804E57E3130EB2FA2E66CBB22&
 
Reports say rebels loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda overran
Kibumba Monday, despite helicopter attacks by UN peacekeepers trying to
stop rebel advance 
Witnesses say government troops are retreating in the face of a rebel
offensive in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Officials and
residents in Congo's North Kivu province say the sides clashed again
Tuesday in several spots near Kibumba and Rutshuru, two towns north of
the provincial capital, Goma. Reports say rebels loyal to renegade
General Laurent Nkunda overran Kibumba on Monday, despite helicopter
attacks by U.N. peacekeepers trying to stop the rebel advance. Two boys,
fleeing from the town of Kibumba, walk as a tank of the Congolese army
moves on the road, about 35 kilometers north of Goma, 27 Oct
2008Thousands of people from Kibumba and nearby villages have fled the
fighting on foot toward Goma. The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday it
expects 30,000 new arrivals at a camp near the capital. The U.N.'s
efforts have been hampered by attacks from locals, who are angry that
the peacekeepers have failed to protect them from the fighting. At least
two people were killed Monday when protesters tried to storm a U.N.
compound. The commander of the U.N. mission in Congo, Spanish Lieutenant
General Vicente Diaz de Villegas, resigned from his post on Monday, for
what the U.N. called "personal reasons." A Ghanian officer has taken
over the post until a permanent replacement is named. Nkunda's men
launched their offensive against government forces on Sunday. The sides
have fought numerous battles since late August, following the collapse
of a January peace deal. Nkunda says his militia is defending Tutsi
civilians from Hutu fighters from neighboring Rwanda. The rebels accuse
Congo's army of working with the Hutus. North Kivu remains the most
volatile area of a country still recovering from a devastating five-year
civil war that ended in 2003.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.


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