The Army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has carried out in recent hours a series of bombings against positions of the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23) in parts of the province of North Kivu (east), amid the upsurge of tensions in the area in recent months.
According to information gathered by the Congolese radio station Radio Okapi, the Congolese Armed Forces have attacked positions of the group in the mountainous areas of Tshanzu, Runyoni and Ngugu, all of them in the territory of Rutshuru and where the M23 has numerous strongholds.
The M23 spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, published a message denouncing the bombings and stressed that «the Congolese government does not want peace and maintains to this day the option of war, rejecting the call for dialogue formulated by the United Nations, the African Union (AU) and the East African Community (EAC)».
«Our movement reiterates its commitment to a direct dialogue with the Congolese government to achieve a lasting peace in our country,» he stressed, as reported by the Congolese news portal 7sur7, without the authorities of the African country having pronounced themselves for the moment on the message of the M23.
The latest clashes have provoked the flight of the population from several localities in the area to which they had recently returned after a brief period of calm. According to Radio Okapi, residents of Bunangana and Jomba have fled again and crossed the border into Uganda.
The conflict has also led to a diplomatic crisis between the DRC and Rwanda, which Kinshasa accuses of supporting the M23, although Kigali has rejected these claims and has accused its neighbor of allegedly supporting the rebel movement of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
The M23 has been accused since November 2021 of carrying out attacks against DRC Army positions in North Kivu, seven years after the parties reached a truce. UN experts have accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the rebels, although both countries have denied this.
