Fresh fighting in the Congo

Reports from the Democratic Republic of Congo say there has been renewed fighting between rebels and government troops.

A spokesman for the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy RCD, Lola Kinsanga said its troops had come under attack from government forces in three towns of Nyunzu, Kasinge and Manono in the diamond-rich Katanga province.

He said twenty government troops were killed in the attack, but there has been no word from the government.

Meanwhile, a Rwandan army official Charles Kayonga says its troops will not withdraw from positions captured recently by rebels on the border with Zambia. While on a visit to Kinshasa last week, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who backs President Kabila in the Congo war, threatened a counter-offensive if the rebels did not withdraw from towns they had recently captured.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service