OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kinshasa | Monday 11.00pm.
AN Angolan air strike on the rebel-held town of Kalemi in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 25 people and injured 40 more, according to a rebel spokesperson.
Rebel officer Jonas Taturu said the strike destroyed seven houses in the working-class neighbourhood of Four-Points.
The rebels’ political co-ordinator, Lunda Bululu, told a press conference in Goma on Monday evening that both Kalemie and the town of Lubutu were bombed by a Zimbabwean warplane on Sunday. The rebels suspect the planes took off from Kindu, some 300km south of Lubutu. Bululu said rebel troops had reached the outskirts of Kindu and were within “several hours” of capturing it.
Meanwhile 5-million people in the capital, Kinshasa, are facing shortages of basic foodstuffs and prices have soared. A bag of corn which cost 30 Congolese francs (R147) before the outbreak of the fighting now costs 100 francs (R492).
The main highway into Kinshasa from the port city of Matadi 350km to the south-west remains impassable. Groups of rebel soldiers are still operating in the region, making road travel dangerous.
Traffic on the other two main routes into Kinshasa, the Congo River and the route from the eastern town of Bandundu, is also disrupted. Traders are discouraged from supplying the capital by government army soldiers who have been running an extortion racket on these routes for the past two years.
Kinshasa is also beset by power black-outs. Although the Inga Dam, Kinshasa’s primary power supply, has been recaptured from the rebels, downed power lines have kept the city without power for three weeks.