DR Congo: Rebels gain ground with defections

M23 rebels pressed ahead with their seizure of territory and towns in eastern Congo yesterday and said they intend to topple the government of President Joseph Kabila.

The rebels took control of the town of Sake in a bid to move towards the provincial capital of Bukavu. “We want our country back,” M23 Colonel Vianney Kazarama said to cheers from thousands in Goma, which was seized by the rebels on Tuesday; 3,000 soldiers and police defected to the rebels there yesterday.