Even though peace talks were held recently, fighting broke out, and M23 militants in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are said to be holding civilians prisoner for working with rival groups.
In the past few months, the group, which is one of many in the troubled area, has taken over large areas of land from the army and other militias in North Kivu province and moved closer to Goma, the capital of the province.
Following intense international pressure to end hostilities, it handed over the important town of Kibumba to a local military unit last week, claiming that it was a “goodwill gesture done in the cause of peace.”
Security sources say that fighting started up again in North Kivu on Sunday, even though the Congolese army called the pullout a “sham” meant to strengthen the group’s strongholds elsewhere.
According to Cyprien Ngoragore, a leader of the local civil society, the rebels originally imprisoned about 50 people who were allegedly working with two anti-M23 militias in and around the Tongo community.
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As many as 18 civilians suspected of cooperating with the Nyatura, an anti-M23 armed group, and the FDLR, a militia with Rwandan Hutu roots, were still in rebel hands, he added.
The hostages were brought to the area known as Rutshuru-Center, according to two sources who spoke to AFP.
Under the condition of anonymity, the nephew of one of the hostages said that the M23 told him that they were still alive and that they were “displaced people who were coming back to hunt for food.”
“We are asking the government to intervene so that our brothers can be liberated,” he continued.
Another man claimed that the rebels had tied up and taken to Rutshuru Center his 76-year-old father and others who were believed to be affiliated with the Nyatura and the FDLR last week.
Residents told AFP that combat between the M23, the army, and self-defense groups resumed on Monday after erupting over the weekend. The reports coincided with that information.
Under the condition of anonymity, a military source told AFP that the army and neighbourhood militias engaged the M23 in combat in the communities of Bishusha and Tongo. The army “was holding its positions,” according to a security source.
The M23, a Tutsi-led force, had been dormant for years before resuming hostilities in late 2021. At the time, it said that the Congolese government had broken a promise to add its troops to the army.
Despite Kigali’s denials, the DRC has charged its smaller neighbour Rwanda with supporting the gang.
But specialists from the United Nations and other Western nations, including the United States and France, concur with the DRC’s view.
Last month, negotiations between the DRC and Rwanda in Angola led to the signing of a truce agreement that called on the M23 to put down their weapons and withdraw from occupied areas.
After the deadline set for their retreat, the rebels didn’t leave their positions, though.
