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KINSHASHA, Dec 24 (AFP) - Zairean troops armed with automatic weapons ransacked the center of the eastern town of Goma Tuesday in a sweep that left three people dead and seven seriously wounded, state radio reported.
Informed sources said the town, located near the Rwanda border, was 90 percent destroyed as troops went on the rampage in Zaire for the second time this week.
Soldiers from the Kisangani garrison in northeast Zaire went on a looting spree on Monday to protest delays in their November paychecks.
The radio said that in the incident Tuesday troops from the 411th commando brigade, stationed in Rumangabo 55 kilometers (30 miles) from Goma, had wanted to arrest the governor of North Kivu province, whom they accuse of having taken a "negative position" on their presence in the Kasindi border region.
Kasindi has come under several attacks from the rebel Lumumba National Congolese Movement based in Uganda, the most recent occurring last week.
Authorities in North Kivu last October convinced the government to withdraw federal troops from the Kasindi border post. But following last week's raid they were forced to return.
bos/nh AFP AFP SEQN-0008
