The Rwanda military reported Wednesday that a group of its commandos had crossed into neighboring Zaire and driven Zairian troops from a provincial capital on the south end of Lake Kivu.
Lt. Col. Firman Kagame told The Associated Press the commandos passed through Bukavu after dark Tuesday night in pursuit of Zairian troops who have been firing on Cyangugu across the Ruzizi River in Rwanda.No other details were available, and it was not possible to confirm the report independently.
French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday urged the United Nations and the Organization of African States to organize a conference on the growing tensions between Zaire and Rwanda and the "unbearable suffering it is causing."
In Frankfurt, Germany, a U.S. Army spokesman confirmed Wednesday that Gen. James L. Jamerson, deputy commander of the U.S. European Command, would travel to Zaire next week "to get an assessment or briefing on the situation."
The fighting, rooted in ethnic hatred and power struggles, stems from Zaire's attempt to expel Tutsis whose ancestors immigrated to eastern Zaire at least 200 years ago.
The Tutsis have taken up arms against Zairian troops. And while Rwanda has insisted it is not at war with Zaire, its Tutsi-dominated army has exchanged fire with Zairian troops.
The battles have displaced hundreds of thousands of refugees from their camps and turned a stretch of eastern Zaire in the heart of Africa into a vast humanitarian disaster zone.
After a day of deadly shelling, Cyangugu was quiet Wednesday, with only sporadic machine-gun fire heard, apparently from inside Zaire. But Rwanda's vice president warned of escalating violence.
"It has stopped, but this might not be the end," Paul Kagame - not related to the Rwandan army commander - said in the capital, Kigali. "The shelling in Cyangugu will have its consequences. If I am slapped in the face, I will hit back."
The World Food Program on Wednesday reported mortar attacks on a Zairian military post near Goma, about 100 miles to the north. The post is near several large refugee camps for Rwandan Hutus.
On Tuesday, Zairians shelled houses and farms as far as three miles inside Rwanda, killing one civilian and wounding two. A barracks and a Rwandan mortar position also were hit, wounding eight soldiers.
The Rwandan army unleashed at least 100 mortar rounds on Zairian positions. No casualty reports were available from the Zairian side; all foreign aid workers and foreign reporters have left the area.