Congolese soldiers loyal to a renegade general took the eastern town of Sake on Sunday after a brief engagement with U.N. troops and clashes with the army that killed at least five and wounded dozens, U.N. officials said, Reuters reported. The former Congolese army's 81st and 83rd Brigades attacked army positions at Sake with heavy weapons on Saturday, sending thousands of terrified civilians fleeing into the bush. The brigades are loyal to General Laurent Nkunda and refused to join a new integrated national army after the 1998-2003 war. Government troops launched a counter-attack early on Sunday but after heavy fighting involving small-arms fire, mortars and rocket propelled grenades, they failed to dislodge the rebels and withdrew, U.N. officials said. "This morning the 11th Integrated Brigade launched an attack on the 83rd Brigade. The attack failed and by 10.30 a.m. (0830 GMT) the government forces had abandoned Sake," said Major Ajay Dalal, spokesman for Indian peacekeepers in North Kivu province. The world body has its biggest peace force, known as MONUC, in Democratic Republic of Congo overseeing a peace process to end the war, which triggered a humanitarian disaster that has killed some 4 million people.
