Kitona

Kitona is a town of about 4000 persons in the Bas-Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located to the southwest of the country along the Atlantic Ocean, about 190 miles southwest of the capital city of Kinshasa. A small military airbase is located near the town. Upon the outbreak of the Second Congo War in early August 1998, the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy commandeered three aircraft in the eastern town of Goma and flew them to Kitona, taking the garrison by surprise and capturing the town. It was subseqently recaptured by a government-aligned Angolan force with tanks that drove out of the province of Cabinda on 22 August.