The eastern Congo city of Bukavu was under control of government forces on Wednesday after the last renegade forces fled during the night.

The rebels' weeklong takeover of the strategic city had posed a threat to the central African country's peace process.

UN soldiers watch civilians celebrate in Bukavu, Congo. (AP photo)
UN soldiers watch civilians celebrate in Bukavu, Congo. (AP photo)

The government troops, which appeared to be supported by hundreds of tribal fighters, marched into the centre of the city without firing a shot.

Residents sang, beat drums and honked horns as the government troops entered the city.

Two groups of rebel fighters seized the city on June 2, forcing the troops of Brig.-Gen. Mbuza Mabe, the region's army commander, to flee.




The rebels said Mabe was persecuting eastern Congolese Tutsis, known as the Banyamulenge.

The larger of the two groups, under Brig.-Gen. Laurent Nkunda, left the city on Sunday, allowing United Nations peacekeepers to take over security.

But troops following Col. Jules Mutebutsi stayed behind, and fought with Mabe's government forces for several hours on Monday and Tuesday. They fled Bukavu under cover of darkness overnight Tuesday.

About 1,000 UN troops in the city were trying to prevent looting said Alpha Sow, the head of the UN mission in South Kivu province.

A transitional government under President Joseph Kabila took power last June, after a five-year war that left dead an estimated 3.3 million people, many of them through disease and famine.

Six armies were involved in the fighting, including forces from Rwanda and Uganda.

The country has been mostly peaceful, with the exception of sporadic fighting between renegade troops and tribal fighters in the eastern and northeastern regions.

The takeover in Bukavu threatened the peace process, and strained relations with Rwanda after Kabila accused the neighbouring country of helping the rebels.