DR Congo senior officer defects to join eastern mutiny

At least one senior Congolese army officer has defected with radio equipment and several of his men to join the ranks of a mutiny in the eastern region of Nord-Kivu, military sources said Tuesday.

"A major has left with 20 radios of the FARDC (regular army), which means our men cannot attack the enemy because they would be using the same frequency," an army officer involved in the fighting said.

For weeks now the FARDC has been battling former rebels who were integrated into the military as part of a 2009 peace deal but recently started to defect en masse, complaining of poor treatment.

The military source told AFP that the major was formerly a member of the National Congress for the Defence of the People led by Laurent Nkunda.

Following the major's defection, the FARDC troops operating in the Rutshuru area -- where the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda meet --- regrouped in the town of Jomba, the officer said.

The mutineers are known as the March 23 movement -- named after the date of their deal with the government -- and they claimed Tuesday that many more officers from the regular army were defecting.

"A lieutenant-colonel joined us with six majors, several heavy weapons, ammunition and communication equipment," the mutiny's spokesman Vianney Kazarama said.