GOMA, DR Congo
Fresh clashes with M23 rebels
erupted Wednesday near the eastern DR Congo city of Goma, according to
officials, rupturing weeks of relative calm in the troubled region.M23 rebels in Kibumba, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Fresh clashes with M23 rebels erupted on April 12, 2023 near the eastern DR Congo city of Goma. - AFP
A Tutsi-led group, the M23 has
won a string of victories against the army and enemy militias since re-emerging
from dormancy in late 2021, capturing swathes of North Kivu province.
The group also triggered a
vast humanitarian crisis as it closed in on the provincial capital Goma, a trade
hub of over one million people.
On Wednesday morning, armed
men claiming to be Congolese patriots attacked M23 positions near Kibumba,
about 20 kilometres north of Goma, according to an army official who requested
anonymity.
M23 fighters repulsed the
attack and the army later arrested the assailants, the army official
added.
Fataki Sebatutsi, a civil
society leader in Kibumba, also told AFP that clashes had
occurred.
A precarious calm had reigned
for several weeks prior to the attack, with troops from the regional East
African Community (EAC) military force deploying to the region to oversee an
intended M23 withdrawal.
M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa
tweeted on Wednesday that the "Kinshasa government coalition" had
attacked its positions.
Kibumba marked the furthest
extent of the M23's advance towards Goma, but the group announced a withdrawal
from the settlement on December 23, which took place under the supervision of
the EAC force.
The M23 retreated from the
settlement but stayed put in the surrounding hills.
The group has since withdrawn
from several other areas that it conquered, but the Congolese army has cast
such retreats as diversion tactics.
The EAC force comprises
Kenyan, Burundian, Ugandan and South-Sudanese troops, with many contingents
arriving in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo only within the last several
weeks.
It is meant to supervise a
staged withdrawal of the M23 from the region, but many locals are disappointed
that the force is not taking the fight directly to the rebel group.
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