Army kills '20 rebels' in northeastern Congo

By Godfrey Olukya

ARU, Democratic Republic of Congo (AA) - Congolese army has said it killed 20 insurgents, six of whom were Rwandans since the last one month during an operation in northeastern Congo.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the Congo military, also known as FARDC, said it also captured 25 fighters of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda during Sokola Operation.

A cache of arms, including 16 AK-47 rifles, two light machine guns, a mortar and 10 knives were also recovered, the statement said.

Capt. William Ndjike Kaiko said over 70 people, mostly women and children were also rescued by the army during the operation.

A village head in North Kivu, Bumba Bwambali, praised local people for cooperating with the army in hunting down the armed group. ''It is good that local people collaborated with the national army to fight the rebels. I appeal to all people in Kivu to continue that spirit,'' Bwambali said.

The FDLR insurgents are remnants of the Rwandan Hutu rebels who massacred Rwanda nationals in 1990s but later fled to Democratic Republic of Congo where they formed their group on Sept. 30, 2000, and set bases from which they want to fight and overthrow the Rwanda government. They often carry out raids in villages to get food and to recruit young men into their force.

Operation Sokola began in January 2015 to fight against Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Congo.