The sound of artillery and light weapons fire rang out at midday on Tuesday in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town of Bukavu, which has been occupied since last week by dissident army troops.
The shooting took place in the southwestern Panzi district, spreading panic among residents who, whether on foot or in cars, quickly made for the town centre, an AFP journalist in Bukavu reported.
Regular forces who were chased out of Bukavu last Wednesday were reportedly positioned close to the town, to the southwest.
It was not immediately clear whether the fighting was between them and the dissident troops, many of whom are drawn from a former rebel group now theoretically integrated into the army in line with peace accords enacted last year.
Sporadic shooting was heard on the outskirts of Bukavu on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Some of the hundreds of dissident troops who were meant to have confined themselves to designated sites in the town were still visible on the streets early on Tuesday.
Kinshasa has accused Rwanda, whose border with the DRC passes by Bukavu, not only of supporting the dissidents but also of sending troops back to the former Zaire.
On Monday, DRC chief of staff Admiral Liwanga Mata-Nyamunyobo said his regular forces will ”fight and kick out … the Rwandans on our soil”.
Rwandan forces have twice invaded the eastern DRC to back rebellions, in 1996 and 1998.
In October 2002, Kigali announced it had pulled out all its soldiers from the neighbouring country. Rwanda has vehemently dismissed Kinsasha’s accusations that it is involved in the latest unrest. — Sapa-AFP
Crisis talks in the DRC