Zambia wants to annex parts of Congo, these were the words of Interior minister Gilbert Kankonde, made during a cabinet meeting presided by President Felix Tshisekedi on Friday 8 May 2020.
The accusation comes after authorities in the town of Pweto, in Haut-Katanga Province, observed a sudden increase in the numbers of Zambian troops along the border . Alarmed by the situation , the Congolese government responded by equally deploying more soldiers on its side, as a reinforcement measure.
Since March 2020 tension between the two countries has escalated after series of military confrontation. Around mid-March 2020, the Zambian army invaded the Congolese village of Kibanga in the territory of Moliro, situated in the Province of Tanganyika. A gun battle ensued between the naval forces of both countries , culminating in a single fatality on each side. Shortly after the Congolese army managed to recovered its territory , the Zambian force returned with reinforcement , carrying out air raids across the village and bombarding the Congolese military base. The Zambian army retook the village and it has been under its control to date, according to the local civil society movement.
Diplomatic consultations have been held to calm the situation and avoid further violence, with Congolese foreign affairs minister Marie Ntumba Nzeza and Governor of Tanganyika Zoe Kabila , paying courtesy visits to Lusaka; but it seems like talks have yielded no success.
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