28/08/13 Reuters: U.N. helicopters attack M23 rebels in eastern Congo
The M23 rebels, aware that
their presence outside the city of 1 million people is key to their leverage in
stalled peace talks, have fiercely resisted Congolese army efforts to push them
back.
Army spokesman Lieutenant
Colonel Olivier Hamuli said the U.N. brigade and regular U.N. peacekeepers had
supported government forces with heavy artillery and attack helicopters.
"Combat is ongoing and
there has been an intense bombardment of Kibati," said Hamuli, referring
to a rebel base some 11 km
(7 miles)
north of Goma. "It's going well. We have not advanced much but M23 is
gaining no territory."
Aftershocks of heavy
artillery fire reverberated in some northern neighborhoods of Goma, causing
panic, residents said.
The United Nations has taken a more proactive role
since suspected rebel rockets landed in Goma on Thursday and Saturday. Five
civilians were killed, according to Human Rights Watch.
Martin Kobler, the U.N.
special representative to the Congo,
told a news conference in Kinshasa
that U.N. forces were supporting the Congolese army but could not guarantee the
security of Goma.
Created in March, the U.N.
brigade has a mandate for offensive missions, marking an aggressive step-up for
U.N. peacekeeping operations in the region, which for years have been
criticized for inaction.
Bolstered by the presence
of the new brigade, Congolese President Joseph Kabila has effectively the
ditched peace negotiations in the Uganda
capital Kampala,
analysts say, hoping the M23 can be pushed far enough not to present a threat
to Goma.
The M23 humiliated the
Congolese army and the United Nations' 17,000-strong peacekeeping force, known
as MONUSCO, when it briefly occupied Goma in late 2012, forcing the opening of
the talks.
Those negotiations have
stalled, however, leading to renewed hostilities and escalating tensions
between Congo and Rwanda.
U.N. investigators have
accused neighboring Rwanda
of supporting the 18-month M23 rebellion, an accusation Kigali has repeatedly denied.
The M23 rebels said in a
statement the Congolese army and U.N. brigade had attacked its forces in
Kanyaruchinya and Mutaho, to the north of Goma, with infantry, air strikes and
heavy weapons.