Congolese civilians denounce extortion by M23 rebels during their return to their homes in North Kivu

March 24 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Civilians from the Congolese territory of Masisi, in the North Kivu province, in the northeast of the country, have denounced extortion attempts by the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) taking advantage of the decrease in their confrontations with the Army.

According to Kamurhonza civil society, the rebels have placed barricades during the return journey of the displaced, particularly on the Ntulo-Kirolirwe and Mushaki roads, the two main axes of movement in the territory, where they force civilians to pay ” illegal taxes.”

“Right now they are subject to a double taxation regime,” warned the president of Kamurhonza’s civil society, Léopold Muisha, who warned that the rebels are asking for around $400 per truck.

“Taking into account the traffic that right now crosses both axes, they are getting $40,000 a week. They are financing the rebellion,” Muisha alerted Radio Okapi.

The situation right now in North Kivu is, according to the witnesses of the Congolese radio station, unpredictable. Although clashes between the Congolese Army and the M23 are no longer recurring — partly thanks to the recent deployment of troops from the Community of East African States, which will continue in the coming days — the rebels are still present in certain strategic areas of the province.

Among them, for example, are the hills surrounding the city of Sake, in Masisi, where Burundian soldiers are deployed at a base of the Brigade of the Intervention Force, dependent on the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country. (MONUSCO), as well as in the towns of Kishishe, Tombo, Bambo and Bwiza, in Rutsuru territory, once the epicenter of the fighting against the Congolese forces.