Up to 40,000 Congolese have fled to neighbouring Burundi after M23 rebels took over the South Kivu province this week. The capital of the province, Bukavu is also in the hands of rebels as tens of thousands of Congolese flee every day. Alliance Fleuve Congo (Congo River Alliance), the political party of M23, has taken control of the city and suspended all government workers.
The M23 rebels are backed by Rwanda and is supporting their take-over of its nieghbouring regions with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last month the M23 rebels successfully took over the North Kivu province and M23 continued fighting despite engaging in ceasefire talks. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2773, demanding that M23 withdraw from the territories it occupied and that Rwanda cease its support for the group. The United States Department of State has sanctioned three individuals connected with M23 including a Rwandan government minister. Hundreds of residents of Bukavu city protested the imminent occupation of M23 before the rebels took over the city. Footage of one of the protests is found below.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports are also stating that the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist military group in Congo bordering Uganda has committed a massacre of up to 70 people but there are no confirmations of these reports and the group hasn’t been active for some time.
Separate reports cite that M23 rebels have killed child-soldiers who joined the Congolese Army as soon as they entered Bukavu city. These reports have been verified by the residents of the city.
Newsroom
Leave a Reply