The battle for Kindu is crucial to the course of the Congo war, writes Ann Eveleth and Howard Barrell
This week’s battle for the mid-eastern town of Kindu in the Democratic Republic of Congo marks a turning point for the two-month-old civil war.
A victory for the rebels would open the way for them to attack the Congo’s second-largest city, Lubumbashi. If forces backing the Congo government stop the rebels’ attack and push them back, the Congo alliance would be positioned to advance against regions in the north and east held by the rebels.
Both sides claimed all week that they were prevailing in the fierce fighting around Kindu and another nearby town, Kalima.
South African representatives of the Congo rebels, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), told the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday that they expected to gain control of Kindu and its all-important airport “within days”. The Congo government uses the Kindu airport to supply its troops opposing the rebel attack on the city.
At the same time, the RCD said, two other rebel fronts are advancing on the northwestern Equateur province town of Bumba and from the central Congo town of Manono deeper into the mineral-rich province of Katanga. Lubumbashi is the capital of Katanga, a province in south-eastern Congo.
Richard Cornwell, a military analyst at the Institute of Security Studies in Midrand, said that the battle for Kindu is crucial to the course of the Congo war.
Foreign and local soldiers backing President Laurent Kabila’s government needed to hold Kindu in order to mount an offensive eastwards against the rebels, Cornwell said.
“Reports that the Rwandans have now committed major forces in support of the rebels at Kindu is a sure indicator of just how crucial this battle is going to be,” Cornwell said.
Rwanda and Uganda are supporting the Tutsi-led rebels trying to overthrow Kabila.
Forces from Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Chad and Sudan have been supporting Kabila.
The rebels have held the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu since the beginning of the rebellion launched on August 2.
Angolan, Namibian and Zimbabwean forces helped Kabila’s weak army push the rebels out of the west of the country. A tense east/west stand-off has drawn the battle lines since then.
RCD South Africa representative Thomas Nzira-Timana said the rebels were advancing on Kindu from three fronts.
He added that part of the objective was to rout Sudanese and Chadian forces fighting alongside the pro- government Congo coalition from the town.
These forces, he said, had taken “a hiding” in recent weeks during the government’s unsuccessful bid to take the South Kivu town of Shabunda, the easternmost battle since the rebels launched their offensive.
“We were suffering from logistical problems then, but Kabila’s forces were beaten back to Kalima [80km north-east of Kindu], and when we took Kalima we found a large cache of military hardware and food supplies at the airstrip,” he said.
Rebel commanders said they were using Kalima as a base to attack Kindu. The commanders said their troops are shelling Kindu.
“Some rebels have also managed to get around the back of Kindu and are now attacking pro-government positions in the town from the west as well,” Cornwell added.
Earlier rebel reports this week said that Zimbabwean forces, who have been defending Kindu alongside Sudanese and Chadian soldiers backing Kabila, had been routed by the rebels.
Cornwell commented: “Much more of this and Kabila’s allies might decide they haven’t got the will for it, and withdraw.”
The Kindu battle takes place against a backdrop of increasing foreign engagement in the conflict, with Kabila seeking support from Zambian President Frederick Chiluba and Nigerian military ruler General Abdusalam Abubaker.
Nzira-Timana said the RCD hoped to reduce the role of foreign forces in propping up Kabila. Diplomatic efforts were taking place “at some level” in a bid to secure Angolan withdrawal from the conflict, he said.
“We know that Angola is not there for Kabila, because we used Angolan airspace when we launched our attack on Kitona [an airbase in western Congo],” Nzira-Timana said.
“Angola is there because of Unita. On a matter of principle we cannot be associated with Unita. If we reach an agreement with Angola, we could not tolerate Unita using the Congo.”
The Congo coalition is heavily dependent on Angolan airpower. Angola’s military has a large number of late-model Migs and tanks.