M23 rebels gain ground in the DRC
The March 23 Movement (M23) rebels are gaining positions in North Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after the failure of the ceasefire, according to local sources.
According to sources cited by the France-Presse agency, fighting continues between the Congolese army and local armed groups on one side, and the M23 rebels, supported by the Rwandan army, according to Kinshasa authorities and the United Nations (UN).
The ceasefire should have taken place since Tuesday "in the entire eastern region of the DRC", based on the timetable agreed on March 03, at the mini-summit in Luanda and, announced by the Angolan presidency, a mediator appointed by the African Union ( UA) for this conflict.
Still, the rebels advanced and tightened their grip on the provincial capital, Goma, a city of over a million inhabitants, between Rwanda, to the east, and Lake Kivu, to the south.
The M23 launched an offensive around Kirotshe and Shasha on the shores of Lake Kivu, cutting off some traffic on the national road to South Kivu.
"Since the morning, there has been fighting after the M23 attack."
Clodius Buhaze, a member of local civil society, said on the phone, adding that the rebels are in the hills " above the hospital, less than a kilometer from the road " and are gaining ground on the army and local militiamen who participated in the fighting.
Lieutenant Colonel Guillaume Ndjike, spokesman for the North Kivu province, asked the population, in a video posted on the social network Twitter this afternoon, to:
“Not to attack the various contingents deployed as part of the East African Community regional force.”
This force was initially mobilized to stop the advance of the M23, but it encountered some hostility from the population who accused it of apathy, the French news agency also reported.
The Tutsi-dominated M23 group remained inactive for nearly a decade, but resumed fighting at the end of 2021. Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting this rebel movement, which has been corroborated by United Nations experts, although Kigali has deny.
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Picture: © 2023 Guerchom Ndebo
