The rebel group M23 reoccupies the Congolese city of Mweso

March 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group reoccupied the Congolese city of Mweso, in the North Kivu province, on Tuesday after violent fighting with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC).

The inhabitants of the city have had to leave their homes again, to which they had returned on March 13 after M23 withdrew to other positions, according to what Radio Okapi has published.

After the withdrawal from Mweso, the M23 was able to maintain other “strategic positions” in Bashali Mokoto, from where they occupied Mpati and Kibuye, as well as advancing in other directions such as Masha or Kasiza.

In addition, the same Mweso civilians denounced extortion attempts by M23, taking advantage of the decrease in their confrontations with the Army due to the entry into force of a ceasefire that both parties accused of not respecting.

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 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 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. UN experts pointed out in December to the existence of “substantial evidence” of “direct intervention” by the Rwandan Army in the conflict.

They also highlighted a collusion between the Congolese Army and various armed groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Mai-Mai, to combat the M23, including the proposal by armed groups to “mobilize 600 combatants”. to reinforce the ranks of the Armed Forces.

Rwanda has accused the DRC of “sabotaging” the peace and of supporting the FDLR — a rebel armed group founded and composed mainly of Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda — and of using the Mai-Mai militias — militias Congolese nationalists formed to defend their tribal territory against the numerous rebel groups active since the 1990s– in the context of the conflict. Likewise, he has denounced discrimination and acts of hate against the Tutsi minority in the neighboring country.