A REBEL faction fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was forced to call off celebrations marking its second anniversary on Saturday after government-allied forces bombarded the north-eastern town of Gemena. Jean-Pierre Bemba, who heads the Ugandan-backed Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), was to give a speech to residents traumatised by the war, but had to cancel the celebrations after a MiG fighter jet unleashed a tonne of bombs on the town at midday, destroying several houses and wounding five children. Bemba’s guerrilla faction sprang up in north-eastern Congo in late 1998, just two months after another rebellion spearheaded by Rwanda began in the east of the country. Both groups are fighting to bring an end to the government of President Laurent Kabila, whose army is supported by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. – Reuters