Zeroing in...On your neighbor
From Rwanda's New Times, Congo soldiers shoot at Rwandan border
To quote Tom: "The Nemesis of all travellers in the Congo - the military checkpoint." So glad to see that more than a dacade later, life in the DRC is 'normal' :D
Quote:
Congolese soldiers on Monday fired three bullets into the Rwandan territory of Petite Barriere, causing pandemonium as hundreds of Rwandan businesspersons at the border fled for their dear lives.
Jean Damascene Mungarakarama, a Rwandan who was at the Congolese side before the incident, claimed there were ‘brutal acts on Rwandans’ that culminated into the shooting.
He said: “I don’t know what had happened to the Congolese soldiers but they were so hostile and rude. We found them holding and beating up an old man who had just crossed the border claiming he was going to Laurent Nkunda (a Congelese rebel general).
“When we reached there, they asked us for the documents and they took them a way and started beating us and tried to lock us into a small room.
And this is how one crosses the DRC border relatively unharmed. It's called a payoff :wry:
Quote:
Unfortunately (sic) another soldier who happened to be my friend came and stopped them saying they shouldn’t do any thing harmful to me because I was his friend they finally left us,” he added.
Explosions and machine-gun fire echoed through the hills of east Congo
MONUC - Rebels, army clash in east Congo, amid worsening humanitarian crisis.
Quote:
...government troops battled rebels for a third day straight amid a worsening humanitarian crisis that has displaced nearly 200,000 people in the past few months, a U.N. military spokesman said.
Clashes between the army and insurgents loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda erupted early Friday around Rugari, about 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of the regional capital, Goma, said Maj. Viveck Goyal, a spokesman for the 18,000-strong peacekeeping force.
"The initial information we have is that the Nkunda elements are being pushed away from Rugari," Goyal said.
New Ebola strain infects 51, kills 16 in Uganda
Looks like Rwanda was smart to maintain the red alert issued on Ebola longer. Appears it's not over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tom Odom
Health officials declared the end of an outbreak of deadly Ebola haemorrhagic fever, believed to have killed up to 187 people over 8 months. Congo's Health Ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that a 42-day period following the death of the last Ebola victim had ended on
November 13. Two towns (Mweka and Luebo) were affected by the outbreak in Kasai Occidental some months ago. .
Uganda, 29 November
Quote:
KAMPALA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A new strain of the deadly Ebola virus has infected 51 people and killed 16 in an area of Uganda near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo, U.S. and Ugandan health officials said on Thursday.
"The mysterious disease outbreak in Bundibugyo has now been confirmed to be Ebola disease," Dr. Sam Zaramba, the Ugandan Health Ministry's director of health services, said in a statement.
Genetic analysis of samples taken from some of the victims shows it is a previously unknown type of Ebola, Dr. Tom Ksiazek of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
"This virus didn't behave as would be expected of some of the known strains," Ksiazek said in a telephone interview. "That tipped us off that this is probably a novel or new strain of Ebola."
Ugandan health officials have said that the virus appears to be unusually mild, but Ksiazek said it is not yet clear whether this is the case. He said experts need to check to see how many diagnosed patients are still alive.
DR Congo rebels retake key town
Government troops who took rebel territory are being driven out again !
Quote:
Rebels in the
Democratic Republic of Congo have recaptured the eastern town of Mushake, which they lost last week.
They are also reported to have retaken positions in another important village nearby, Karuba.
There is no clear indication so far of the scale of casualties in the fighting, but another BBC correspondent has seen "many" government soldiers in hospital in Goma with bullet wounds, with more arriving.
Government forces began an operation last week against forces loyal to a renegade ex-general, Laurent Nkunda.
An army spokesman told the BBC the government would try to re-take the lost territory
once more.
That's kind of got a ring of optimism :wry:
Rebels gain ground in DR Congo clashes
Quote:
A week after Congolese forces launched an offensive in the troubled eastern province of Nord-Kivu, rebels were gaining back ground.
Loyalists of renegade ex-general Laurent Nkunda said they had retaken several positions, including Mushake and Karuba, strategic villages west of the provincial capital Goma only recently under government control.
"We have just retaken Karuba this afternoon. We have seized arms and munitions. We are also holding Mushake," rebel spokesman Seraphin Mirindi told AFP.
A spokeswoman for the UN mission in DR Congo (MONUC), Sylvie van den Wildenberg, confirmed the rebels had taken Mushake, which the army had only gained control of five days previously.
"We also have had information of an attack by Nkunda troops on Karuba," a village the army had taken from the rebels in October, she told AFP.
Army commanders could not be reached for comment.
The rebel advances mark a reversal for the army that appeared to be consolidating its positions in Nord-Kivu just a few hours before the rebel counter-attack, UN and army sources said.
Army Suffers Setback in Offensive Against Rebels
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
11 December 2007, Kinshasa
Quote:
Troops loyal to dissident general Laurent Nkunda in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have regained control of the town of Mushake in the eastern North Kivu province, which they had lost to government forces less than a week earlier, military sources said.
UN-supported Radio Okapi quoted the deputy commander of government troops in North Kivu, Colonel Delphin Kahimbi, as admitting the army had suffered some setbacks.
The UN Mission in DRC, MONUC, was more specific, with Major Prem Kumar Tiwari, MONUC's spokesman in Goma, North Kivu's capital, saying: "Nkunda's troops have taken up positions around Mushake and Mushake itself. The regular army is no longer present there."
Have you ever seen this ?
Take a quick gander at this lesson plan :eek:
Quote:
Teacher Input
• Provide an interactive lecture with images regarding Mobutu Sese Seko’s corrupt rule from 1965-1997 and the First African World War conditions in 2000. Use images from the Resources section to help students visualize the conflict and the countries participating. The New York Times lesson plan contains excellent maps. Images can be shared via an LCD projector, an Aver Key connection from your computer to a classroom television, or by overhead transparencies.
Key Questions:
• What are the main causes of the African World War?
• How have the DRC’s natural resources and ethnic conflicts played a part in this war?
• Why did a civil war in one country turn into a “world war” involving several nations?
BTW, yes, the 25,000 I was wonderin' about (on payroll) :D
EDIT: Get's better at Wiki
Quote:
# 2.1 Mass Scale Looting
# 2.2 Active Extraction Phase
:cool:
