OWN CORRESPONDENT, | Kigali 10.00am
AN air raid on the rebel stronghold of Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, late on Tuesday night killed 28 people and wounded 15, rebel sources contacted in Goma by telephone said.
The sources said the plane belonged to forces backing DRC leader Laurent-Desire Kabila.
“I can tell you that this bombardment has left 28 dead and 15 wounded. I was on the spot in Goma. There are people who have been blown to bits and whom it will be hard to identify,” said Major Bob Ngoye, the top aide to rebel military chief Major Jean-Pierre Ondekane.
“The town was hit in five places in three district: Mont-Goma, Virunga and Malonga. Many houses are in ruins and the toll is likely to go higher,” he said. Radio Goma, the rebel radio is located on Mount Goma. The other districts hit are residential areas.
“Goma was bombed by an Antonov belonging to forces supporting President Kabila between 07.30pm. and 08.00pm tonight, General Celestin Ilunga, defence chief of the main rebel movement, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) said.
Goma is one of the main towns controlled by the rebellion, launched on August 2 last year on the eastern border of the country formerly known as Zaire. It is the first time that pro-Kabila forces have undertaken a raid so deep into territory controlled by the DRC and its Rwandan and Ugandan allies.
Ngoye said rebel troops were “taken by surprise and by the time we were able to react, the plane was already far away over the lake” – a reference to Lake Kivu beside which Goma lies. — AFP