New fighting between the Army and the M23 rebel group in two towns in eastern DRC

Eight people die in two attacks carried out by alleged members of the ADF, allies of Islamic State

Feb. 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group staged new clashes on Wednesday in various parts of the North Kivu province, located in the east of the country, amid the increase in fighting during the last week and despite the ceasefire agreed in November at a summit held in the Angolan capital, Luanda.

Sources cited by the Congolese radio station Radio Okapi have indicated that the fighting is taking place in the town of Ndondo, located near Rusinga — controlled by the rebels — and located in Masisi territory. Likewise, there are also clashes in Bambo, in the territory of Rutshuru, with no information on victims for the moment.

The M23 claimed late on Tuesday through its official account on the social network Twitter that the Congolese army and its allied militias had carried out attacks with “heavy artillery” against positions of the group in Kilorirwe, Burungu, Kishise and Kitshanga. “They are densely populated areas. The M23 defends itself,” he stressed, without giving further details about the situation.

The Congolese authorities, who have denounced that the M23 did not proceed to complete its withdrawal on the dates set at the mini-summit in Luanda -in which the presidents of the DRC and Rwanda, Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, respectively, participated-, have launched recently security operations against the rebel group, which in recent days have made progress in North Kivu.

The M23 is a rebel group made up mainly of Congolese Tutsis and operating mainly in the North Kivu province. Following a conflict between 2012 and 2013, the RDC and the group signed a peace agreement in December. In these combats, the DRC Army had the support of United Nations troops. The group launched a new offensive in October 2022, intensified as of November, which has caused a diplomatic crisis between the DRC and Rwanda over their role in the conflict.

Rwanda has accused the DRC of supporting the Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR) —a rebel armed group founded and composed mainly of Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda– and of using Mai-Mai militias. –Congolese nationalist militias formed to defend their tribal territory against the many rebel groups active since the 1990s– in the conflict. Likewise, he has denounced discrimination and acts of hate against the Tutsi minority in the neighboring country.

NEW ADF ATTACK

On the other hand, at least eight people were killed in attacks carried out on Tuesday by alleged members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia, which operates under the banner of the jihadist group Islamic State in Central Africa (ISCA), against several towns in the province. of Ituri (east), according to the Congolese news portal 7sur7.

The administrator of the Mambasa territory, Jean-Baptiste Muyapangi, has detailed that four civilians were killed in the town of Masange, while the non-governmental organization Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CRDH) has pointed out that another four died in a “ambush” in Manzobe.

The ADF, a Ugandan group created in the 1990s, has been accused of the killing of hundreds of civilians in this part of the country. The group suffered a split in 2019 after Musa Baluku –sanctioned by the United Nations and the United States– swore allegiance to the jihadist group, under whose banner he has acted since then.