During an attempt to have a “peace conference” about the problems in the region, an envoy from the East African bloc, troops and rebels exchanged heavy fire in eastern DR Congo on Monday, according to a military source and locals.
According to the individuals, who spoke over the phone, combat was taking place in Kibumba, a city that is strategically located approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Goma in the North Kivu region.
According to the reports, M23 combatants were also spotted in the Virunga National Park, a wildlife sanctuary famous for its mountain gorillas and a hideout for armed organizations, around 40 kilometres to the northwest of the capital.
The March 23 Movement, a predominantly Congolese Tutsi organization, gained notoriety in 2012 when it temporarily overran Goma before being expelled.
The rebels, who had been dormant for years, resumed fighting in late 2021, citing, among other complaints, the DRC’s breach of a promise to include them in the army.
Since then, they have defeated the military repeatedly and taken large areas of land, forcing thousands of civilians to abandon their homes.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo accuses its smaller neighbour Rwanda of supporting the organization, which has increased international tensions.
As the M23 moved forward towards the end of last month, Kinshasa expelled Rwanda’s ambassador and later called back its representative from Kigali.
Rwanda accuses the Congolese army of conspiring with the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a notorious Hutu rebel group responsible for the 1994 murder of Tutsis in Rwanda, and denies supporting the M23 in any way.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Guillaume Ndjike, the army spokesman for North Kivu, “the Rwandan army and its partners from the M23 don’t stop, every passing day, conducting attacks on our several positions in Kibumba.”
