The militia of the March 23 Movement (M23) announced this Saturday its conquest of the capital of the Congolese province of Kivu Sur, Bukavu, in the culmination of an offensive, they assure, caused by the RDC’s army and its “attacks against the civilian population “.
Although the M23 had assured at the beginning of the month that it had no intention of attacking the city, the political extension of the militia, the Congo River alliance, has denounced this Saturday that the army’s “attacks” led the guerrillas first to assume the Control of the nearby Kavumu airport – that “the army used to launch air attacks against the population”, according to the group – before taking the city.
After their defeat in Kavumu, the Army and its allies “left the city of Bukavu after participating in looting and other abuses,” say militias.
In their note, they urge the population of Bukavu to organize “local surveillance committees to maintain security and appoint honest and responsible people to direct them” and call the population to “keep control of their city and not yield to panic ”
Finally, and as it has already done on other occasions, the M23 demands that the Military Forces of Burundi, allies of the Congolese government in its offensive against the group, that they leave “immediately” their areas of operations in the country, especially in the near NKOMO, NYANGEZI AND RUZIZI AREAS.
“The military operations that carry out these forces in the democratic Republic of the Congo have exacerbated ethnic cleaning, mass atrocities and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, which is a serious threat to the local population. Therefore, it is imperative that they abandon Democratic Republic of the Congo without delay, “the group settled.
The rebel group, mainly made up of Congolese Tutsis, launched this new offensive in the late 2022 in the breakdown of the frail peace agreement that ended a previous stage of the conflict between 2012 and 2013.
Rwanda is criticism of providing logistical support, material and effective to M23. The Ruandés government rejects these accusations and indicates in its place the Congolese authorities to repress the Congolese tutsis with the support of armed groups such as the democratic forces for the liberation of Rwand 1994- and other local militias.