Angolan Troops Invade Congo
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Angolan soldiers have invaded the southwest of the neighboring Republic of Congo in pursuit of rebels and allegedly taken Congolese troops hostage, local sources said.
Last weekend, the Angolan troops entered the region of Kimongo, a main town in the Niari district, and took charge of five places including the border post, a local resident and a journalist told AFP.
"They have been there since Sunday and claim they have come to occupy an area that belongs to them. We may consider this as a problem of them not knowing where the frontier lies," Christian Samuel Sansa, an officer in the paramilitary police based in Dolisie, Congo's second military region said.
Congolese troops who were dispatched from Dolisie to Kimongo were reported to have been kidnapped and led over the border into Angola.
Angola's Cabinda province is an exclave that borders on Congo to the north, while being separated from the rest of Angola to the south by a sliver of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Though small, Cabinda accounts for much of Angola's oil production, which makes the country the second largest exporter in Africa. The FLEC and other separatist rebel movements have fought Angolan troops since independence in 1975.
The Congo Republic, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a non-aggression pact and in 1997, Angolan troops helped President Denis Sassou Nguesso to fight his way back to power in a civil war.