The United Nations and Congo's government sent troops on Saturday to an eastern town threatened by dissident fighters, hoping to head off any direct attack after residents and government troops fled in panic, Reuters reported. Fighters loyal to renegade ex-army commander Laurent Nkunda, who has rejected a peace process to end Congo's five-year war, began an offensive on Thursday and have captured villages around Rutshuru, where 250 Indian U.N. peacekeepers are based. Many residents and Congolese army troops fled Rutshuru on Friday fearing an attack but despite some reports that Nkunda's men had infiltrated the town overnight, U.N. officials said Congolese troops had regained control of the town by Saturday. "The (Congolese army's) 8th military region has sent about 300 soldiers to Rutshuru. They have arrived in the town and have taken control. The Rwandaphone soldiers are still just outside the town," said Lieutenant-Colonel Mayank Awasthi, U.N. military spokesman in Goma, some 80 km (50 miles) to the south.
