DRC: M23 officially withdraws from Kibumba, near Goma
Congolese army soldiers on the road to Kibumba in June 2022. AFP - GUERCHOM NDEBO
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The M23 announced Friday, December 23 its withdrawal from Kibumba, a position located about twenty kilometers from Goma.
A ceremony to hand over control of this area to the regional force of the Community of East African States (EAC) was even organized, 10 days after the holding of an unprecedented meeting between M23, FARDC and EAC still in Kibumba.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa,
Patient Ligodi
Combatants in fatigues and well armed, journalists from Goma and the foreign press present, members of the Kenyan and Angolan facilitation invited, the M23 organized everything to make the moment solemn.
Speaking in French and translated into English, Colonel John Amani Nzenze, who was speaking on behalf of the movement, was brief.
He described this withdrawal as a gesture of goodwill which, according to him, falls within the application of the recommendations of the
Luanda mini-summit
.
Will they cede other spaces after Kibumba?
Where will they go after this withdrawal?
He was reserved, but stressed that this is the start of a process.
John Amani Nzenze warned other groups that would try to regain control of Kibumba.
Is it a buffer zone?
Nope !
responds to RFI
General Sylvain Ekenge
, spokesperson for the Congolese Army.
“
At this point, we are observing.
The situation is taken care of by the structures of the EAC, those of the African Union as well as by the ad hoc monitoring mechanism decided in Luanda
", he said, adding that everything will happen according to the press release. end of the Luanda mini-summit.
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