GOMA (DR Congo), Jan 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The M23 rebels have seized the strategic town of Kitshanga in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after days of fierce fighting, drawing condemnation from the UN.
The DRC’s army on Friday confirmed its forces withdrew, calling it a tactical move to protect civilians in the face of a renewed offensive by the rebel fighters.
“We have tactically withdrawn from the city in order to attract these genocidal forces deep into the city and avoid the worst for our people in Kitshanga,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Guillaume Ndjike, spokesman for the military governor of North Kivu.
“We are making every effort to dislodge this enemy,” he said.
The rebels took control of Kitshanga late on Thursday after capturing several villages on the road linking the town of about 60,000 people to the provincial capital Goma about 90 kilometres (55 miles) apart.
M23′s political spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, in a statement on Thursday accused government troops of attacking civilians in Kitchanga and elsewhere, and said the rebel group was “obliged to intervene and stop another genocide”.
The UN peacekeeping mission, known by its acronym MONUSCO, said more than 500 people, including women and children, are seeking refuge at its base in the town of Kitshanga.
MONUSCO spokesperson Ndeye Khady Lo said civilians fleeing from Kitchanga have been given tents, food, water and first aid.
“The M23 must cease all hostilities and withdraw from the occupied areas,” Lo said.
Months of intensified fighting have displaced at least 450,000 people.
Regional leaders agreed in November that M23 fighters would withdraw from the eastern areas of the DRC, but the M23 has been accused of violating the terms of the ceasefire.
Goma, home to more than one million people, located just on the Rwandan border, was already cut off from the north after rebels took National Highway 2 during their offensive in October and November.
The M23, which Kinshasa has claimed is backed by Rwanda, took up arms at the end of 2021 and has since seized parts of Rutshuru and Nyiragongo, north of Goma. United Nations experts and the European Union have accused Rwanda of backing the M23.
Rwanda has denied backing the group, which is one of the dozens operating in mineral-rich eastern Congo.
MEANWHILE, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF urged for the release of 13 children who were abducted during a deadly attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern region this month.
In a statement, the agency said 11 boys and two girls were believed to have been kidnapped by an armed group during an attack on a village in North Kivu province.
“UNICEF which condemns the abduction, is concerned that the abducted children are being inhumanely treated and is calling for them to be released immediately,” it said.
On Jan 22, suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) members killed at least 23 people during an attack on the village of Makugwe and kidnapped several people, sources said.
The ADF is one of the deadliest armed groups in eastern DRC, a volatile region that has been plagued by violence for decades.
The armed group – which the Daesh group has claimed as its central African affiliate – has been accused of slaughtering thousands of Congolese civilians and carrying out bomb attacks in Uganda.
There are more than 120 other armed groups in eastern DRC, including the M23 rebels, which Kinshasa, the EU and UN have said are being backed by Rwanda. Kigali has continued to deny the allegations.
In 2021, the United States officially linked the ADF to DAESH and added it to its list of foreign “terrorist” organisations.
On January 15, suspected ADF operatives also detonated a bomb in a church in North Kivu, killing at least 14 people and injuring another 63. — NNN-AGENCIES
