Unrest Growing in Congo Capital

As a bold and fast-moving rebel army pressed toward this capital to challenge President Laurent Kabila’s government, the city showed signs of descending into chaos, with a grenade attack in a busy district, a clash between pro-Kabila forces and a bout of car hijackings by military recruits.

Kinshasa’s knife’s-edge anxiety was exacerbated by the second day of a near-total power outage, which has caused growing concern about health conditions in this largely impoverished city of 5 million.

A former military intelligence officer with close ties to Kabila’s government said the army suffered a serious setback in recent days when its key Zulu Battalion joined the rebels. The battalion had been one of the first units to enter Kinshasa when Kabila’s forces ousted longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko 15 months ago, and was more recently deployed to defend the town of Inga, about 130 miles southwest of Kinshasa, the former intelligence officer said.

Kabila accuses former allies Rwanda and Uganda, which helped him gain power, of fighting alongside ethnic Tutsi and other rebels who took up arms in the east Aug. 2.

Several nations in the region, including South Africa, have assigned defense and foreign ministers as well as security chiefs to explore possible solutions to the fighting.