KINSHASA, DR Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo's military used newly deployed jets to bombard M23 positions in the east of the country on Tuesday, officials said, with some residents of rebel-held territory fleeing across the border.
A mostly Congolese Tutsi
group, the M23 first leapt to prominence in 2012, briefly capturing the main
city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), before being driven
out.
After lying dormant for years,
the group took up arms again in late 2021, claiming the DRC had failed to
honour a pledge to integrate them into the army, among other grievances.
String of victories
M23 rebels have won a string
of victories against the Congolese army in North Kivu province in recent weeks,
dramatically increasing the territory under their control.
Their resurgence has cratered
relations between the DRC and its smaller neighbour Rwanda, which Kinshasa
accuses of backing the M23.
On Tuesday, a Congolese
security official who asked for anonymity said war planes were bombarding the
rebel-held Tchanzu area of North Kivu and would continue "all
day".
A resident of the strategic
town of Bunagana on the Ugandan border -— which the M23 captured in June —
confirmed to AFP that the aircraft were striking the
area.
"It's every man for
himself," he said, describing how town residents were fleeing across the
border into Uganda.
Residents flee
Damien Sebuzanane, a local
civil society representative, also said that Bunagana residents had fled.
The DRC deployed two Sukhoi-25
jets to the troubled east over the weekend, after the M23 captured a series of
settlements along an important highway leading to Goma.
One on the planes violated
Rwandan airspace on Monday — although Kinshasa said the incident was a mistake
and not intentional.
Despite official denials from
Kigali, an unpublished report for the United Nations seen by AFP in
August pointed to Rwandan involvement with the M23.
The report also said the M23
plans to capture Goma in order to extract political concessions from the
government in Kinshasa.
No comments:
Post a Comment