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DRC Troops Retake Airport After Rebel Attack

   VOA News 05 April 2010
   Congo_UNMONUC

Photo: AFP

   UN  Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo and DRC soldiers get ready
   for deployment (file photo)

   Government   forces  have  regained  control  of  an  airport  in  the
   northwestern  Democratic  Republic of Congo, a day after it was seized
   by rebels.
   Fighters  from  the  Enyele  tribe  seized  the airport in the town of
   Mbandaka during a surprise attack early Sunday.
   Congolese officials say army troops backed by U.N. peacekeepers retook
   the facility after heavy fighting. A peacekeeper from Ghana and a U.N.
   civilian worker died in the clashes.
   Mbandaka  is  capital  of  Congo's  Equateur  province.  The army sent
   reinforcements  to  the  area  last  year  to  restore order following
   clashes  between  the  Enyele  and  the Monzaya tribe over fishing and
   farming rights.
   Aid  agencies  say  that  fighting  killed  more  than  100 people and
   displaced about 200,000 from their homes.
   Many  of the refugees crossed the border into the neighboring Republic
   of Congo.
   Officials  say  about  100  Enyele  fighters were involved in Sunday's
   attack on Mbandaka.
   A spokesman for the U.N. mission in the DRC said the rebels arrived by
   boat  on  the  Congo River and first attacked the governor's residence
   before overrunning the airport. Army troops and peacekeepers continued
   chasing the rebels on Monday.
   The  DRC's  government  is  still  striving to assert control over the
   country  seven  years  after  the  end of a bloody civil war. The U.N.
   force  of  20,000  assists  the  army  but is facing pressure to leave
   within the next year.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.