Harare, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe warned on Friday that its soldiers would use force to break a Congolese rebel blockade of Ikela, 700km northwest of Kinshasa.
Congolese rebels opposed to Congolese President Laurent Kabila said on Thursday they had surrounded 3 000 Zimbabwean and Namibian soldiers allied with government forces after they refused to surrender their guns.
But Colonel Chancellor Diye, Zimbabwe's defense department spokesperson, said Zimbabwe troops were in control.
"Our troops are able to hold their ground," he said. "They are being resupplied by air but if the rebels refuse to let us resupply by river then we will force our way through."
The 15-month Congo civil war has threatened stability and development in central Africa and pulled in five countries, with Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola backing Kabila. Uganda and Rwanda back rebel troops.
Guns were supposed to fall silent across Africa's third-largest nation after the August and September signing of a peace agreement. But both the rebels and the government have accused each other of fresh attacks in violation of the cease-fire.
Diye rejected rebel claims in Kigali on Thursday that the Zimbabwean general commanding 3 000 troops in Ikela, including Namibians, was in danger of having to surrender.
"(Rebels) cut off the main supply route at Bakungo and then they have been trying to take Ikela but they have failed," said Diye.
He charged that rebel troops had violated the cease -fire by severing government supply lines and firing on aircraft landing at Ikela. He said a formal complaint had been filed with the Joint Military Commission operating out of Lusaka, Zambia.
He said the allied Congolese, Angolan, Namibian and Zimbabwean forces had warned rebel and Rwandan forces of impending military action if the blockade is not lifted.
A rebel spokesperson, Mulumba, said on Thursday that the government troops initiated the attacks in Ikela in a bid to link up with their allies who were entrenched in the town's small airport. The rest of the town was in rebel hands, he said.
"The Zimbabwean general at the airport is refusing to surrender. We offered him a land corridor if he leaves weapons and heavy artillery behind," Mulumba said on the telephone from the eastern rebel stronghold of Goma. - Sapa-AP