Lusambo
| Lusambo | |
|---|---|
  Lusambo | |
| Coordinates: CD 4°58′22″S 23°26′12″E / 4.972912°S 23.436756°ECoordinates: CD 4°58′22″S 23°26′12″E / 4.972912°S 23.436756°E | |
| Country | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Province | Sankuru |
Lusambo is a territory in and capital of Sankuru province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town lies north of the confluence of the Sankuru River and the Lubi River.[1][2][3] Lusambo is served by Lusambo Airport.
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In 1890 Lusambo was chosen by Paul Le Marinel as the main Belgian base in the Kasai region to defend against the threat of Arab or Swahili traders in slaves and ivory who were encroaching from the east. The station would soon become one of the most important military posts of the Congo Free State with a permanent staff of seventeen whites, six hundred native soldiers and four artillery pieces.[4]
In 1999 the new Kabila government and its ally, the Zimbabwean government of Robert Mugabe, claimed that U.S. mercenaries were helping Ugandan and Rwandan-backed rebel forces who had surrounded 700 Zimbabwean troops near Lusambo during the Second Congo War.[5]
References
- ↑ National Geographic Atlas of the World: Revised Sixth Edition, National Geographic Society, 1992
- ↑ www.maplandia.com
- ↑ www.geonames.org
- ↑ De Coster, Pieter (1997). "Biografie van Paul Le Marinel". De eerste Europese ontdekkingsreizen in Katanga 1797-1897 (in Dutch).
- ↑ Smith, Alex Duval (2 December 1999). "Foreign troops under siege as war rages in Congo, four months after peace deal". The Independent. Retrieved 16 June 2016.