According to administrative sources and residents interviewed by telephone, the M23 remains on the offensive towards the south, towards the provincial capital Goma. But it has also progressed towards the west of the territory of Rutshuru, of which it controls the south-eastern quarter, bordering Uganda and Rwanda.
“It is difficult for me to speak for a long time because here at home, it is the M23. They are in Tongo, Murimbi, Rutshovu, Rushenge…”, declared a resident of Tongo, a locality located in the Virunga park, on the road leading to the neighboring territory of Masisi.
“They even entered my office”, said on Wednesday evening an official of the “group” (administrative entity) of Tongo.
The M23 (March 23 Movement), a former Tutsi rebellion which took up arms again at the end of last year, seized Bunagana, on the border with Uganda, in June and, after several weeks of calm, left on October 20 on the offensive.
Since then, he has taken control of several localities on the RN2, which leads to Goma, crossed the road to the west and continued to descend towards the south, towards the capital of the province of North Kivu. In recent days, violent clashes have taken place in Kibumba, about 20 km north of Goma. The rebels claimed Wednesday to have taken this locality and several neighboring villages.
The army did not communicate, but this development is confirmed by security sources, on condition of anonymity. Kibumba and Buhumba, nearby, “are controlled by the enemy”, indicated one of these sources. “We are in Kibaki”, about 4 km to the south, on the RN2, she added.
In Goma, a new group of Kenyan soldiers from the East African regional force to be deployed in the region arrived on Wednesday, led by General Jeff Nyagah who will assume command. He warned armed groups who would refuse “disarmament” and “the political path”. “They will deal with us,” he said.
Visiting Kinshasa and then Goma at the start of the week, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, a “facilitator” appointed by the Community of East African States (EAC), had also called on the armed groups to “drop the weapons”.
