Forces loyal to President Laurent Kabila yesterday hunted for pockets of rebel resistance in Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of the Congo, amid signs of easing tension in parts of the city.
However, Mr Kabila's government, whose forces have flushed out rebel infiltrators in Kinshasa since fighting began on Wednesday, refrained from proclaiming a victory.
Mr Kabila's political chief of staff, Mr Abdoulaye Yerodia, said things were improving in the capital. However, because of the clandestine nature of the war being waged by the rebels, the battle front was everywhere.
"In Kinshasa, at least, the front is everywhere," he told a news conference. "We see the enemy, who have been in hiding there for a long time, coming forth like termites from their nest."
He and Mr Kabila's Deputy Interior Minister, Mr Faustin Munene, urged rebels to lay down their arms, stressing that troops and civilians should hand surrendering rebels to the authorities.
"Leave your holes. Throw down your arms. No harm will come to you," Mr Yerodia said in a message to rebels still in hiding.
His comments for rebel soldiers to surrender followed summary executions and mob justice which saw suspected rebels shot or burned to death last week. Correspondents in the western port of Matadi reported loyalists forces in control after Mr Kabila's Angolan allies marched in on Saturday. State radio reported that the giant dam at Inga was also under government control.
However, the rebels, who took up arms against Mr Kabila in the east of the country on August 2nd, retain control on the eastern front, holding the main cities bordering Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.
Reuters photographer Corinne Dufka reported from Congo's third city of Kisangani in the jungle interior yesterday that the rebels were in control.
Mr Kabila, who accuses his former allies, Rwanda and Uganda, of invading and fomenting the revolt, visited Zimbabwe yesterday and is expected to attend this week's non-aligned summit in South Africa. Zimbabwe and Angola sent troops to fight for him.
Residents reported an easing of tension in Kinshasa's eastern suburbs of Masina and Kimbanseke, where skirmishing started on Wednesday. The suburbs are near Kinshasa's international airport, which remained in government hands throughout.
Witnesses and residents said civilians who fled to more central districts to escape the fighting were returning home. Military operations yesterday seemed to focus more on the western and south-western fringes of the city.
Yesterday, much of Kinshasa again spent the night in darkness despite the reported recapture of Inga, which was confirmed by foreign correspondents. The Energy Minister, Mr Christian Eleko Botuna, blamed the delay in restoring power supplies from Inga on technical problems.
While troops remained heavily deployed around Kinshasa yesterday, witnesses reported fewer checkpoints and security searches in more central districts. Details of the death toll are sketchy. Witnesses reported seeing many bodies, some of them victims of mob justice. Officials say hundreds of rebels have surrendered.
Mr Kabila disagreed with Rwanda and Uganda over border security and the role of the Congo's ethnic Tutsi minority, which was at the forefront of the revolt in which he toppled Mr Mobutu Sese Seko, in May 1997.
Rwanda and Uganda deny involvement in the latest revolt. Independent sources say Rwanda is involved. Uganda says it has troops in eastern Congo pursuing Ugandan rebels.