Kabila sacks DR Congo's military chief

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo's military chief of staff has been fired after troops lost ground to rebel forces, the government says.

An official statement read on Congolese television Tuesday indicated that Dieudonne Kayembe has been sacked and replaced by navy chief Gen. Didier Etumba Longomba, the BBC reported.

The statement said President Joseph Kabila made the move because of the urgency of the fight against Tutsi rebels led by Gen. Laurent Nkunda in the country's North Kivu province.

The British broadcaster said Longomba will inherit a badly paid, demoralized fighting force that lacks discipline. U.N. observers say the Congolese army has participated in atrocities against the population it is supposed to be protecting, and have retreated from Nkunda's fighters in recent days.

Reports of army soldiers looting shops and homes and raping women have been common. The move also comes as leaders of U.N. peacekeeping forces in Congo say they can't help defeat Nkunda's forces under their current rules of engagement, the BBC reported.