DR Congo says several towns recaptured from rebels, but fighting continues Mining News
Despite recent military successes, eastern DRC remains mired in conflict, largely as a result of the M23 insurgency.
Several towns that fell to armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been retaken by government forces, according to the Congolese army.
DR Congo’s armed forces (FARDC) said some of the recovered towns had been occupied by rebels for months, including Ngungu, a key town in Masisi territory near the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma. Towns in South Kivu province have also been recaptured.
“They [the rebels] they saw how the FARDC stopped their adventure,” Guillaume Ndjike Kaiko, the military spokesman in North Kivu, told reporters, citing other recovered towns such as Lumbishi, Ruzirantaka, Kamatale, Bitagata and Kabingo.
“They are suppressed everywhere,” Kaiko said on Sunday, attributing the victories to a joint military operation led by provincial commanders.
However, the rebels made progress in other areas intense fighting in a conflict-ridden region. Some Masisi villages remain under rebel control, including a center known as Masisi Center.
The eastern region of the DRC was embroiled in the conflict for decadeswith more than 100 armed groups fighting for territory in the mineral-rich region near the border with Rwanda. As of 2022, the M23 rebel group has been embroiled in a conflict with the military that has displaced nearly two million people. Kinshasa and United Nations they accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 with troops and weapons – something Rwanda denies.
The conflict in this region has created one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises. Since 1998, approximately six million people have been killed, while approximately seven million have been internally displaced.
‘We hope to have a safe place’
The news of the return of the towns caused mixed feelings among the villagers who had fled the areas. They worried about their safety as they celebrated their homecoming.
“We are in Ngungu but we are still suffering because security is not well established,” said Nsabimana Alexis, a resident. “People are still dying, we just buried a person 30 minutes ago,” he said.
Rita Ritagaza, another resident of Ngungu, told Al Jazeera: “We are trying to move away from the area. M23 launched heavy artillery on our homes. We hope to have a safe place for our family far away from here.”
Frequent clashes between Congolese forces and M23 rebels have made dozens of villages inaccessible and beyond the reach of aid.
“The conditions are really difficult. We are overstretched and looking at a bleak future,” said David Munkley, World Vision’s director for eastern DRC.
In Masisi, displaced persons camps and aid facilities have been squeezed as more people try to seek refuge from the violence, French charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said.
“We are doing our best to respond to this situation. But the severe lack of humanitarian aid in the area makes things difficult,” said Romain Briey, MSF coordinator in Masisi.
