(Goma) The Congolese army on Sunday accused Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels to carry out new attacks on Sunday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where heavy fighting continued into the evening.
Posted at 2:29 p.m.
Updated at 2:43 p.m.
The offensive targeted the town of Bunagana, a former stronghold of this rebel movement taken over by the Congolese army in 2013, and other localities in the province of North Kivu, on the border with Uganda.
In a statement, the Congolese army accused “M23 terrorists supported by artillery and Rwandan army soldiers” of attacking its positions near Bunagana.
“The objective pursued by Rwanda is to occupy Bunagana not only to asphyxiate the city of Goma (capital of North Kivu, editor’s note), but also to put pressure on the Congolese government”, said in the press release the general Sylvain Ekenge, spokesperson for the military governor of the province, placed under siege by the Kinshasa authorities.
The attackers were “routed” after losing several of their own, he said. A Congolese soldier was also killed.
Several local and military sources reported fighting continuing around Bunagana in the evening.
An officer told AFP on condition of anonymity that Congolese soldiers were pushing back the rebels on Sunday afternoon and that fighting was continuing.
M23 spokesman Willy Ngoma confirmed to AFP that “very violent” fighting continued very close to the city, accusing the UN force, Monusco, of having “pounded” the rebel positions three times.
According to Damien Sebusanane, head of a local civil society association, most of the population has fled the center of Bunagana, an important crossing point for goods between Congo and Uganda.
The army succeeded in the day “to dislodge the enemy and captured some of them”, he said Sunday evening. But “the situation is very complicated,” he added, reporting an attack in Kavange, just three kilometers from Bunagana.
A predominantly Tutsi rebellion defeated in 2013 by Kinshasa, the M23 (“March 23 Movement”) took up arms again at the end of 2021, accusing the Congolese authorities of not having respected the peace agreements signed in Kenya between the two belligerent parties after the military defeat of the rebellion.
The Kinshasa government accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23, which Kigali denies.