DRC: new diplomatic tensions and on the ground around the M23
M23 fighters on August 3, 2013, near Rushuru, eastern DRC.
(illustrative image) REUTERS/James Akena
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The security situation is still just as worrying in the DRC.
The reactivation of the M23 (March 23 Movement) in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu, is causing concern.
Monusco noted a renewed activity of the movement in a border area of Rwanda.
Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president, and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi discussed this issue Thursday, March 24 in Jordan.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa,
Patient Ligodi
The resumption of activity by the M23
has not gone unnoticed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Attacks
attributed to fighters of this former rebellion, defeated in 2013, have been reported in a border area of Rwanda and in Virunga National Park.
Monusco
, the UN mission, mentioned M23 actions against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), further complicating the situation in this region
.
One of the most serious incidents was recorded in November 2021. Attacks attributed by the FARDC to M23 fighters took place in particular in Runyoni and Chanzu.
Armed men had targeted several military positions.
According to the Congolese army, the perpetrators of these attacks would have been pushed back to Rwanda from where, still according to the FARDC, they would have come.
Other attacks were recorded during this same period in the heart of Virunga Park.
The Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) referred to the ex-combatants M23 and spoke of a hundred heavily armed individuals grouped together on the borders of Rwanda and Uganda who seek, according to him, to establish bases on the territory of the park.
Several other clashes were reported, either with the eco-guards or with the FARDC.
In a press release published on Saturday March 26, the M23 blamed these tensions on the Congolese authorities and accused the army of imposing this war on them.
He denounces “
the government's definitive choice to do battle with the M23 instead of accepting the unconditional surrender of its combatants
”.
In Kinshasa, the leaders reiterate their desire to restore state authority in this part of the country and expect Kigali to take a clear position on the management of this issue.
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ground floor
Rwanda
Felix Tshisekedi
Paul Kagame
UN