FORCES backing the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government have retaken the central city of Lodja, which has been held by rebels and their Rwandan allies for a year. The daily La Reference Plus reported on Wednesday that indiscipline within rebel troops stationed at Lodja had increased, mainly because they had not been paid. The two sides in the DRC conflict — the rebels and their Rwandan and Ugandan allies against DRC President Laurent Kabila and his allies Angola, Nambia and Zimbabwe — have repeatedly traded accusations of ceasefire violations since a truce agreement was concluded last August. The report of Lodja’s recapture came on the heels of a UN Security Council meeting on the war in the DRC that may lead to the deployment of a UN observer force.