The Zimbabwean government has denied press reports that it's headed off a potential mutiny among the troops it sent to defend President Laurent Kabila's government in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An official statement dismissed as lies reports that the army had sent a special deployment of military police to Congo to deal with unrest among its soldiers.

One Zimbabwean newspaper said morale was falling because the Zimbabweans were suffering far heavier casualties than had been admitted.

Congolese rebels say they have killed sixty Zimbabwean soldiers; Harare puts the figure at eight.

Both sides agree that sixteen Zimbabweans have been captured.