The armies of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi have confirmed on Sunday the death of at least 40 Burundian rebels on Congolese territory, specifically in the province of South Kivu, in the east of the country, following clashes that took place last Friday.
The dead were alleged members of the Forces Nationales de Libération (FLN) militia. According to the communiqué reported by the Congolese portal 7sur7, the joint force of DRC and Burundi launched on Friday an attack against members of this militia, led by the self-proclaimed Burundian general Aloys Nzabampema, around the locality of Nabombi.
The rebels have taken refuge in Itombwe forest in Mwenga territory, while the joint force has launched a search and seizure operation.
The FLN is one of about 130 different armed groups active in eastern Congo, a region home to 90 million people and home to a multitude of valuable natural resources. In an attempt to defuse this long crisis, the Congolese government will meet this Monday in Nairobi (Kenya) with representatives of some of these armed groups, with the mediation of former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Several East African leaders also met last week in Luanda, the capital of Angola, to advance a proposed peace process for eastern Congo, whose main focus of conflict in recent weeks has been the confrontation between the Congolese army and the rebel movement 23 March in North Kivu, now under a precarious ceasefire.
