THE Congolese army has sent in armoured vehicles to “crush all resistance” by anti-government militia forces near the capital Brazzaville, a military source said on Wednesday amid heavy fighting. Armoured units backing President Denis Sassou Nguesso rolled into the Pool region adjoining Brazzaville on Monday and Tuesday as part of a mounting offensive against Ninja militia holding out since a civil war in 1997. The small gangs of Ninjas, who fought during the civil war on behalf of ex-prime minister Bernard Kolelas, an ally of ousted president Pascal Lissouba, are forcing civilians to flee with them, according to the source. At the weekend, dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured in the north-west of the country when Angolan troops backing General Sassou Nguesso shelled the town of Nyaki
S LEONE MOVES JAILED TROOPS
IN the wake of renewed rebel attacks close to the capital Freetown, the Sierra Leone government has moved hundreds of surrendered renegade soldiers to maximum security jails in the heavily-guarded capital, United Nations and other sources said on Wednesday. The sources said that about 20 truckloads of prisoners were brought from their Lungi garrison, 16 km across the Sierra Leone estuary to the city itself in a three-day transfer.
UGANDAN OFFICERS RECALLED FROM DRC
FOUR Ugandan army officers have been removed from their posts in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and charged with wrongdoing, three of them apparently because of involvement in mining ventures in the mineral-rich region, he government-owned New Vision reported on Wednesday. The paper said said Lieutenant-Colonel John Nyakaitana, identified as the top strategist for Uganda’s military operations against Ugandan rebels operating in eastern Congo, was recalled from the region along with three other officers in recent days. Nyakaitana was charged with not carrying out certain duties, while the three other officers were said to have been conducting illegal business inside DRC.