sounds like a negative thing for at least some rebel groups. Whether that score is material would, I suppose, depend on how many rebel groups there are - a circumstance best known to those on the ground there and not to me.

In any event, the result, due to the use of aimed fires, inspired this piece of doggerel:

Snipers rule;
Air shooters drool.

Fifty years ago, the Congo saw a number of South Africans who could shoot straight - as opposed to popping off AKs into the air. Times have changed - or have they ?

It all seems to boil down to another piece of doggerel - oui, Belloc said it more elegantly, but I like this version:

The Maxim Gun -
Wot we haz got,
And they haz not.

So, Marc-Andre, thank you for keeping us updated on this continuing mess.

Your post contained this quote, which initially struck me odd:

The national secretary of the SA National Defence Union, Pikkie Greeff, confirmed the involvement of snipers: "Our sources in Goma have revealed that at the time of attacks [on M23 supply lines] by UN Ukranian Mi24 attack helicopters, snipers from our Special Forces were engaging the rebels. They have killed a number of rebels, with reports of one being shot from a distance of 2.2km."
This compelled me to find Pikkie (apparently a goto guy for media asking about SADF) - and lo, twitter link:

National Secretary of the South African National Defence Union ( SANDU) the largest military trade union in the SANDF. AS ALLOWED BY THE CONCOURT!
OK, so Pikkie is, in effect, the Super Shop Steward for the SADF; but what the hell is the CONCOURT. I learned that is South Africa's Constitutional Court, which held in its 1999 decision that SADF members had a constitutional right to trade union membership.

Thus, one learns something new every day.

Regards

Mike