23 rebels claim retaking of two eastern towns
Iran Press TV
Sun Mar 3, 2013 10:45PM GMT
The March 23 movement (M23) rebels say they have recaptured two towns in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
M23 military spokesman Colonel Vianney Kazarama said on Sunday that the rebels retook Kiwandja and Rutshuru "without any fighting."
The announcement came two days after the Congolese Army took control of the towns in the North Kivu province for the first time in eight months.
A spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) said on Saturday that the military took over the towns of Rutshuru and Kiwandja on Friday night to protect the citizens from bandits and armed gangs who had taken advantage of the situation to prey upon civilians.
Later on Saturday, Kazarama called the government action a 'pure provocation' and said the rebels were en route to recapture the towns.
'There is a risk (of clashes) because the government has left its positions and come to provoke us. M23 warns Kinshasa and the international community that anything that happens now is the government's responsibility,' Kazarama stated.
Many rebel and militia groups that want a part in the control of the region's extensive mineral wealth are in the North and South Kivu provinces.
The M23 rebels defected from the Congolese Army in April 2012 in protest over alleged mistreatment in the FARDC. They had previously been integrated into the Congolese Army under a peace deal signed in 2009.
Since early May 2012, nearly 3 million people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. About 2.5 million have resettled in Congo, but more than 460,000 have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.
Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.
MR/AS
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