Rebels seize east Congo army camp, thousands flee

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Rebels seized an east Congo army base and the headquarters of a refuge for some of the world's last mountain gorillas in heavy fighting Sunday that sent thousands of civilians fleeing, UN officials and rebels said. An unknown number of soldiers, rebels and civilians were killed in the renewed fighting in North Kivu province, according to civilians who said the onslaught began around 2 a.m. Government troops raced down the road north from the provincial capital of Goma to reinforce a counterattack Sunday morning. One tank careened into a group of fleeing civilians and killed three teenage boys, civilians said. Associated Press reporters who watched the fathers burying their sons in a cabbage patch outside Kibumba could hear bombing from army tanks about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Rumangabo army camp, seized in the attack.