Report: Congo attacks rebel stronghold

MUSHAKE, Republic of the Congo, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo have launched a long-expected attack on the rebel stronghold of Mushake.

The BBC said Monday a task force backed up by artillery and helicopter gunships moved against the home base of longtime rebel commander Laurent Nkunda.

Early reports from United Nations peacekeepers in the area had Nkunda falling back to a strategic town and forcing its 40,000 residents to evacuate.

Nkunda's rebels control an area along the Rwanda border that Nkunda calls a safe haven for his Tutsi community from marauding Hutus from Rwanda.

The area has some strategic roads into the regional capital of Goma. There is are also valuable farms and tin mines in the region.