DRC: M23 rebels did not withdraw by March 30 as planned
M23 soldiers leave Rumangabo camp, after EACRF officials meet M23 rebels during the handover ceremony at Rumangabo camp, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, January 6, 2023. AFP - GUERCHOM NDEBO
Text by: RFI Follow
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On Thursday, March 23, the deadline for the full withdrawal of the M30 rebel movement from the DRC, the group was still visible in large parts of North Kivu province, which it partially controlled. In the roadmap to end the crisis, aimed at ending hostilities with the rebellion, supported by Rwanda according to the UN, there was also a ceasefire that is not yet applied. And the withdrawal deadline is now impossible to meet.
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The rebels are currently still visible in a large part of North Kivu province. They occupy several localities in Rutshuru and Masisi, although positions have been handed over to the East African force, mainly the Kenyan contingent.
In December and January, the rebels said they had withdrawn from Kibumba and Rumangabo, north of Goma. Even though sources have regularly reported their presence in this area.
In recent weeks, they have left positions near Sake. This was also the case of Mweso in the north, but on Tuesday, the rebels were back in this locality where Congolese forces had deployed. An attitude denounced by the military authorities of North Kivu.
We are therefore far from the total and massive withdrawal envisaged last February.
The chiefs of staff of the EAC also recorded this situation on Friday during a meeting in Bujumbura. In the minutes of this meeting of 23 March, they reduce this delay in the delay in the deployment of Ugandan and South Sudanese troops. The first is now expected in the DRC in the coming hours, but for the second, there has not yet been any official communication.
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- DRC
- M23