GOMA, DR Congo
Violent clashes in eastern DR Congo this weekend pitted M23 rebels against pro-government soldiers and armed groups, stirring up tension in the strategic Masisi region, sources from the area said Sunday.
M23 rebels and militias loyal
to the government have battled across the area recently, breaking a precarious
truce that has lasted for months.
"We have taken refuge in
the parish, the M23 rebels are in Kitshanga since yesterday," one resident
said Sunday.
A number of wounded have been
taken to hospital, according to a health worker. "This morning, there
weren't any more fighters, but we are still afraid to go out," the source
added on the condition of anonymity.
"The rebels are in
Kitshanga and we are trying to find a way to retake the town," a security
source told AFP, also on condition of anonymity.
"The war is not going to
end, it will continue," said the spokesperson of one armed group that
describes itself as "patriots" fighting the rebels.
According to the security
source, fighting was underway Sunday in the neighbouring territory of Rutshuru.
Kitshanga, located at a
crossroads in the Masisi region, about 80 kilometres (miles) northwest of the
provincial capital Goma, has changed hands between powers several times since
the beginning of the year, with fighting resuming three weeks ago after a
precarious six-month truce.
The Rwanda-backed, Tutsi-led
M23 seized the town in January, continuing its conquest of vast swathes of
territory.
At the beginning of October,
Kitshanga passed from the hands of an international force deployed by the East
African Community, which patrolled a buffer zone between the armed groups, to
the local militia and for 24 hours to the M23, before retreating.
On October 14, the army, which
claims to be observing a ceasefire ordered by a regional mediator, had
organised a press trip to the town a week before the town fell back into rebel
control.
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