On Sunday, fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebels resumed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after a day of calm, according to local and security sources. According to a resident by phone, fighting has been raging in the Kibumba sector since this morning. Over the last few days, the army and rebels have been fighting over the locality of Kibumba, about 20 kilometers north of the capital of North Kivu, Goma.
The M23 seized Goma on November 20, 1992, and occupied it for ten days until the following year, when they retreated and were defeated. Despite calls for a ceasefire, the Tutsi movement has continued to expand its territory since last year.There is also fighting in another area north-east of Goma, near the Ugandan border town of Ishasha.
Several villages in the Katwiguru region, about 35 kilometers from Ishasha, have been taken over by the rebels, according to Jean Bosco Bahati, a local civil society leader.
The population is in disarray. The M23s have just entered Katwiguru, they are at the market, the churches have been forced to suspend their programs.
A resident flees, others resist, and the army retreats 15 kilometers away.
We were at church for worship and the M23 came in firing a lot of shots
The resurgence of the M23 has resulted in renewed tension between the DRC and Rwanda, which are accused of supporting it. During the contest, Kigali accuses Kinshasa of collusion with Rwandan Hutu rebels established in the DRC after the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi.
In an effort to resolve the problem, a number of diplomatic attempts have been started. On Monday, Kenyan President William Ruto and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi are scheduled to meet in Kinshasa.
