Tutsi rebel group killed six Congolese soldiers
KINSHASA — A Tutsi rebel group killed six soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a night-time attack, the UN mission in the DR Congo (MONUC) reported on Thursday.
Congolese soldiers patrol the town of Rutshuru in eastern Congo, January 28, 2009 (Reuters)
“On Wednesday, around 4:30 am (O330 GMT), a group of rebels of the Federal Republican Forces (FRF) attacked an FARDC (army) battalion at Minembwe”, in Sud-Kivu province, the MONUC military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich, told AFP.
The attack left six dead and four injured among the Congolese soldiers and “the toll would have been higher had it not been for the intervention of MONUC, which heard shooting and fired back with its armour,” Dietrich said.
The FRF are mostly Congolese Tutsis, also known as Banyamulenge, who claim to defend the socio-economic interests of their tribe, based largely in the east of the DR Congo.
In 2008, the FRF was among several armed groups which signed an accord with Kinshasa, which provided for their integration into the army. But they have refused to join the FARDC and instead pursued their sporadic attacks on civilians and the army. The FRF is also listed among the armed groups that illegally exploit the mineral wealth of the eastern DR Congo. (AFP)
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