M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have retreated from several villages just after the regional forces were deployed. The Tutsi- led rebel group had moved closer to Goma, saying it would take a road to the city of more than 1 million people on the border with Rwanda.
DR Congo’ s M23 rebel group, which it claims is backed by Rwanda, has seized much of North Kivu since 2021. The seven East African Union (EAC) countries began sending troops to eastern Congo in November. proposal to stabilize the area.
But fighting between the M23 and the Congolese army has continued and several regional peace initiatives have failed, including an Angola- brokered ceasefire that was due to take effect on March 7.
According to several sources, the army was involved in clashes with M23 militants late last week, and an exchange of gunfire was also reported on Monday.
Alphonse Habimana, a civil society leader in North Kivu’ s Mweso village, told our reliable source on Friday that M23 had withdrawn from the area.
” People are asking what made them retreat without a fight, ” he told a reliable source on the phone that the rebels had retreated about three kilometers from the village.
An EU regional force was tasked with monitoring the output of the M23. The army official, who did not want to be named, said the rebels had withdrawn from several villages in the Masisi region of North Kivu, west of Goma.
He also noted that the soldiers of the Burundian contingent of the European Union forces have begun to be deployed in the region. Some residents are worried about the M23 movement.
” It’ s a false retreat, ” civil society leader Anne- Claude Bambaze said in Rutshuru, north of Goma, adding that rebels were preparing new attacks.
Independent US experts, the US, and some other Western countries have said M23 is supported by Rwanda, a claim Kigali denies.
by: muthinimbevi