{UAH} When Uncle Bob and Dos Santos kicked M7's ass

By Nicholas Phythian August 25, 1998

Thousands of Angolan troops backed by tanks streamed into Congo today to strike at rebel forces fighting to overthrow Congolese President Laurent Kabila.

Angolans residing near the Congo border reported columns of tanks, armored cars and trucks crammed with soldiers pouring across the frontier, while the Angolan government confirmed for the first time that it had sent troops to help Kabila. Angolan state radio reported that Angola "is participating in this effort so that we can find a political solution which will put an end to the crisis." The Angolan government did not describe the size or nature of the forces, but witnesses estimated that as many as 2,500 troops were on the move. "This is a huge military operation," a witness in Cabinda said. "On Saturday and Sunday, the convoys were so long that they started moving out at 5 a.m. and carried on until 6 p.m. The same thing is happening today."

An aide to Kabila said pro-government forces had retaken the Atlantic oil port of Moanda and the town of Banana and were heading northeast after recapturing a key rebel supply base at Kitona on Sunday.

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{The Associated Press quoted Information Minister Didier Mumengi as saying government and allied Angolan forces had retaken Matadi, the only major Congo River port between Kinshasa and the Atlantic Coast. On Sunday, the rebels said they had seized Kisangani, the country's third-largest city, which is strategically located on the Congo River and is a key to controlling the northeast.}

A regional summit in Pretoria Sunday authorized South African President Nelson Mandela to seek a cease-fire in the conflict. However, rebel spokesman Bizima Karaha said in the east Congolese city of Goma that achieving a truce would be very difficult.

As the Angolans advanced, rebel units about 20 miles southwest of Kinshasa traded artillery fire with Congolese and Zimbabwean forces defending the capital. An official in Harare said Zimbabwe has "around, but less than, 600 well-trained and well-armed troops" defending Kinshasa airport and keeping order in the capital. The BBC, citing a top Zimbabwean government official, said Namibian troops also were fighting in support of the Congolese government.

Tanzania, which also backs Kabila, ordered 600 troops and 200 police officers it had sent to Congo to return home to avoid becoming embroiled in the widening conflict. A number of African political leaders have voiced fears that the involvement of foreign forces could push the war into one or more of the nine nations that border Congo -- Africa's third-largest country.

The rebel drive -- led by ethnic-Tutsi Congolese troops and supported by the Tutsi-dominated army of neighboring Rwanda -- began in eastern Congo on Aug. 2. Within days, it leapfrogged to the west, where it was joined by Congolese soldiers previously loyal to dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who was ousted last year by a rebel coalition headed by Kabila.

Rwanda and Uganda supported Kabila in the seven-month war that brought him to power in May 1997, but the two countries since have turned against their former client. Rwanda has denied involvement in the current conflict, but reports from witnesses and diplomats in the region belie that assertion.

Uganda, too, has denied a role in the conflict, but South African Institute for Strategic Studies analyst Jakkie Potgieter said today that his organization had received unconfirmed reports that a Ugandan battalion had moved into Rwanda and that the two countries plan to airlift a force into Congo. CAPTION: Congolese military recruits leave training at Kinshasa's national stadium to be enlisted. Congolese and Angolan troops are battling to thwart rebel insurgents who would oust President Laurent Kabila. ec

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*A positive mind is a courageous mind, without doubts and fears, using the experience and wisdom to give the best of him/herself.

 

 We must dare invent the future!
The only way of limiting the usurpation of power by
 individuals, the military or otherwise, is to put the people in charge  - Capt. Thomas. Sankara {RIP} '1949-1987

 *"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent

revolution inevitable"**…  *J.F Kennedy

 

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