18/07/13 AFP: UN denies peacekeepers shelled Rwandan villages

General Joseph Nzabamwita of the Rwandan army charged Monday that
MONUSCO troops had "deliberately" targeted two villages, claiming
that two shells, which landed without harming inhabitants, were nonetheless a
"deliberate provocation".

But MONUSCO hit back at the accusations in a statement, saying:
"Not a single shot was fired (by its troops) on July 15, the date these
'bombardments' took place."

The UN statement called on Rwanda
to submit any complaint to the enlarged Joint Verification Mechanism (JVM), a
UN-backed panel of experts from Rwanda,
DR Congo and other Great Lakes nations, that
resolves border problems in the region.

The heated exchange came as the Congolese army continued its offensive
against M23 rebels north of Goma, the capital of North
Kivu province in eastern DR Congo.

"We are beating back the enemy in Kibati," an army official
told AFP by telephone, a report corroborated by the president of the M23, Bertrand
Bisimwa.

The M23 is an armed group launched by Tutsi former soldiers who mutinied
from the Congolese army in April 2012 and occupied the flashpoint city of Goma for 10 days in
November before withdrawing under international pressure.

Army spokesman Colonel Olivier Hamuli said Tuesday that the DR Congo's
forces were gaining ground in the battle close to Goma as they sought to
"wipe out M23".

In March, the UN Security Council decided to boost MONUSCO with an
offensive brigade of 3,000 men who were given an unprecedented mandate to
disarm rebel groups in the east of the country.

MONUSCO "has put its troops on
high alert and stands ready to take any necessary measures, including the use
of lethal force, to protect civilians," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky
announced in New York.