Fighting pitted the Congolese army once morest rebels of the “March 23 Movement” (M23) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, prompting residents of villages in the region to flee to Uganda, sources say. local.
At the end of the day, Congolese General Sylvain Ekenge, spokesman for the governor of North Kivu province, said in a statement that the M23 was “supported by the Rwanda Defense Forces” (RDF) and that the DRC army had “got hold of two Rwandan soldiers”.
Congolese army positions “were attacked by M23s” in Runyoni and Chanzu overnight from Sunday to Monday, Lieutenant-Colonel Muhindo Lwanzo, chief of staff of the military administrator, had previously told AFP. in the territory of Rusthuru, in North Kivu.
“They occupied our positions” during the night. In the morning, “clashes” were in progress, “we are trying to find how to recover the places” taken, he added.
In his press release, General Ekenge specifies the identities of the two Rwandan soldiers arrested, according to him, during these attacks: Warrant Officer Jean-Pierre Habyarimana and Private John Uwajeneza Muhindi, alias Zaje, of the 65th Battalion of the 402nd RDF brigade.
In the neighboring group of Jomba, “the situation is tense”, the population is trying to flee to Uganda or to the center of Rutshuru, Jackson Gacuki, leader of this group, also indicated in the morning.
“Here, nothing is going well, people are crossing towards Uganda with their cattle. There have been several shots since this morning, and more and more the weapons are being heard”, testified to AFP François Sebakara, a resident of Bunagana.
Thousands of people have fled to Uganda via this border town, the Ugandan district administration of Kisoro told AFP.
“The number of refugees crossing from Congo as a result of the fighting exceeds 4,000… Refugees started arriving before dawn and came in large numbers, largely from Bunagana,” said Major Peter Mugisha, Resident Commissioner of Kisoro District.
This figure is likely to increase and “due to the influx, we have closed some schools to temporarily shelter them before they are relocated by the UNHCR”, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in the locality of Nyakabande, he added.
Also called the “Congolese Revolutionary Army”, the M23 comes from a former Congolese Tutsi rebellion in North Kivu formerly supported by Rwanda and Uganda, countries bordering this province which have been plagued for more than 25 years by violence from many groups. armed.
Defeated in 2013 by the Congolese army, the M23 has been in the news once more since November, when it was accused of attacking several military positions in the Rutshuru region.
The Congolese army conducts military operations in the province of North Kivu as well as in the neighboring provinces of Ituri and South Kivu once morest these groups, including the M23.
In a press release published this weekend, the former rebel movement considered that the operations of the Congolese army ” once morest (its) combatants undoubtedly reflect the definitive choice of the government of the Republic to do battle with the M23″.