10 Civilians Die When Uganda, Rwanda Clash in Congo

Ugandan and Rwandan troops clashed Friday in Congo, killing at least 10 civilians and wounding 100 in fighting that drew sharp criticism from the United Nations.

The Ugandan forces sprayed the northern city of Kisangani with mortars and antiaircraft fire and then attacked Rwandan positions at the main airport at Bangoka, said Lt. Col. Akram Hossain, head of a U.N. monitoring team in Kisangani.

Aid workers in the eastern part of the country said a building housing Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian aid group, took a direct hit and was in flames, as was the local electric company’s structure.

Maj. Emmanuel Ndahiro, the Rwandan army spokesman, said Rwandan units destroyed two Ugandan tanks during fighting for the airport but were under orders not to advance.

Late Friday, the National Resistance Movement, Uganda’s dominant political force, accused Rwandan army units of starting the battle by firing on troops withdrawing from the Simi-Simi airport.

The Ugandans and Rwandans are in the Democratic Republic of Congo to back rival rebel groups opposed to President Laurent Kabila and his supporters from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. Hundreds of Rwandan and Ugandan troops died when the two forces clashed in a four-day battle in Kisangani in August.

In a statement faxed to news agencies in Nairobi, Kenya, the National Resistance Movement said Rwanda had deployed reinforcements in Kisangani in violation of the truce that ended last summer’s fighting.

Kingsangani is a strategically important Congo River port. Its decaying but functioning roads and airports are used to transport troops as well as Congolese gold, diamonds and timber.