Negative News: New fighting in Congo despite rebel pledges

New fighting in Congo despite rebel pledges

(CNN) -- Government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have engaged in heavy fighting with rebels despite their leader's pledge to back a cease-fire, the United Nations and witnesses said Monday.

The clashes forced government troops to abandon the eastern Congolese town of Rwindi on Sunday, according to U.N. spokesman Madnodje Moumoubai.

The clashes raged roughly 125 kilometers (75 miles) north of the provincial capital of Goma and smashed a tenuous cease-fire between rebels and government forces.

Scores of people tried to take refuge under artillery fire at a United Nations peacekeeping base in the town but without success, according to The Associated Press.

"These blue helmets would not let us inside, but it's better than nothing," Clement Elias, 20, told AP, referring to the U.N. peacekeepers. He said he heard 100 explosions Sunday night.

U.N. peacekeeping spokesman Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich could give no details about casualties.

"Everybody is trying to push the other side back," Dietrich said. "It's very regrettable that they could not respect the cease-fire."

The reports came a day after former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo said rebel leader Laurent Nkunda had promised to support the U.N.-brokered cease-fire aimed at ending a new wave of unrest and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the conflict-devastated country.

"Today is a great day for us because we were losing many men and material. Now we have a message of peace. We should work with this mission," Nkunda said following a two-hour meeting in Jomba, a rebel-held town near Congo's eastern border with Uganda, according to AP.

Fighting between government forces and Nkunda's rebels has displaced more than 250,000 people -- adding to roughly 800,000 already driven from their homes by previous violence, according to United Nations figures.

Obasanjo's meeting with Nkunda followed talks with Congolese President Joseph Kabila in the capital, Kinshasa. Obasanjo said Kabila had expressed willingness to meet Nkunda but added that negotiations were still at an "exploratory stage."

He said he would tell Nkunda that the international community expected the warring sides to agree to a "durable cease-fire to address the issue of humanitarian crisis and tragedy," followed by a "durable peace and political stability."

The conflict in Congo has been complicated by ethnic tensions, the presence of a myriad of rebel factions and by the involvement of neighboring countries including Rwanda and Angola. Explainer: Behind Congolese conflict

Nkunda, a Tutsi, has repeatedly blamed the Congolese government for failing to protect Tutsis from attacks by Rwandan Hutus who fled over the border following the 1994 genocide that left hundreds of thousands of Tutsis dead.

On Friday Obasanjo met Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who told him there were no Angolan troops operating in the country, AP said. Obasanjo is next due to meet Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Fresh fighting also broke out Sunday in the town of Ndeko, 90 kilometers (50 miles) north of Goma, according to a spokesman for U.N. peacekeepers.

Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich said the fighting was "heavy" and had begun early in the morning. It was unclear who was involved, AP said.

On Saturday, the U.N. said it was considering relocating a refugee camp for up to 70,000 people near Goma to avoid the inhabitants getting caught up in the renewed fighting.

On Friday, the U.N. World Food Program started distributing several tons of food to rebel-held areas for the first time since October, a food program spokesman said.

Peter Smerdon said a dozen trucks, escorted by a U.N. peacekeeping force, brought in food to distribute in the towns of Rutshuru and Kiwanja, north of Goma.

Red Cross Secretary-General Jacques Katshitshi said conditions in refugee camps in the region were "extremely difficult," according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

"They shelter in churches, schools or wherever they can find a place to sleep. Additional temporary shelter is needed because people have to vacate the schools to facilitate the resumption of school lessons," Katshitshi said.

"There is a lack of food and water, and the hygiene conditions are terrible. Cases of malnutrition have been discovered in some of the camps. There might just be enough water to drink, but not enough for washing. This, combined with a lack of sanitation such as latrines, is putting people's health at risk."