On November 18, 2008, Nkunda ordered rebel troops to pull back 40 kilometers from the town of Kabasha, citing the need to avoid clashes, get humanitarian aid to the region and create "separation zones" between the government and rebel forces, which would be patrolled by UN peacekeepers; this was amongst the sacking of General Dieudonne Kayembe, armed forces chief of the Congolese army, after a chain of defeats.