CONGO (Brazzaville) government forces killed dozens of militia foes in fighting near the capital and prepared for a new offensive after losing at least four men and two armoured vehicles, army sources said on Wednesday. Forces backing President Denis Sassou Nguesso killed several dozen of the so-called Ninja militiamen in operations on Tuesday to flush them out of the Linzolo hills around 20km south-west of Brazzaville, said one military source, who asked not to be named. The Ninjas served former premier Bernard Kolelas before he and president Pascal Lissouba were ousted in a 1997 civil war, sparked in May that year when the head of state sought to disarm rival militias.Meanwhile, Kolelas’s Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development has decided to expel him as its leader, according to informed sources.