At least 73 militia fighters and 13 soldiers were killed last week in the Ituri province of north-east Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), military and United Nations sources said on Thursday.
Regular soldiers clashed with rebel militia during a joint mission by the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and UN troops, according to Jean-Tobbie Okala, UN spokesperson in Kinshasa, capital of the vast Central African country.
The UN mission in the DRC (Monuc) and the FARDC announced a major sweep on May 10 to defeat the rebel Congolese Revolutionary Movement (MRC), which was created last June in neighbouring Uganda out of the remains of disbanded militia.
More than 15 000 Congolese militia fighters laid down their weapons in 2005 as part of a nationwide demobilisation campaign.
But the recalcitrant fighters of the MRC, thought to number around 2 000, have kept up the violence in Ituri in the run up to the country’s first multiparty elections in 40 years, scheduled for July 30.
Last week’s clashes took place at Tchei and Joo, around 90km south-west of Bunia, capital of the Ituri province, according to Okala.
Lieutenant-Colonel Stephane Lescoffit, military spokesperson for Monuc, said the Tchei area, an MRC stronghold, was now ”secure and under the control of the joint forces”.
At least 28 Congolese soldiers were wounded in the operation, while around 20 militia fighters had surrendered and 15 AK-47’s were seized along with an 82mm mortar cannon, Okala said. – Sapa-AFP