Several towns that fell to armed groups in eastern Congo’s North Kivu and South Kivu provinces have been recovered by government forces, according to a Congolese army spokesman. However, the rebels have made advances in other areas amid intensified fighting in the conflict-battered region.
Eastern Congo has been in conflict for decades, with more than 100 armed groups vying for territory in the vast and mineral-rich region near the border with Rwanda. The conflict has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, including 100,000 who have fled their homes this year.
The Congolese army stated that some of the recovered towns had been occupied by rebels for months, including Ngungu, a key town in the Masisi territory near the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma. However, some Masisi villages remain under rebel control, including its centre, known as Masisi Centre.
While listing other recovered towns, such as Lumbishi, Ruzirantaka, Kamatale, Bitagata, and Kabingo, Guillaume Ndjike Kaiko, the army spokesman in North Kivu, said, “They (the rebels) have seen their adventure come to a halt by the FARDC (Congolese security forces).”
“All over there, they have been pushed back,” Kaiko said on Sunday, attributing the victories to a joint military operation led by the commanders of the two provinces.
The news of the recovered towns brought mixed feelings among villagers who had fled the areas. They worried for their safety even as they celebrated their return home.
“We are in Ngungu… but we continue to suffer because the security is not well established,” said Nsabimana Alexis, a resident. “People continue to die, we just buried a person 30 minutes ago,” he said.
Frequent clashes between the Congolese forces and the rebels have rendered dozens of villages inaccessible and out of the reach of aid. The most dominant rebel group in the region is the M23 rebel group, which the Congolese government and United Nations experts say is being backed by neighbouring Rwanda. Rwanda denies this claim.
In Masisi, displaced camps and aid facilities are being overstretched as more people seek refuge from the violence, French charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said.
“We are doing our best to respond to this situation. But the severe lack of humanitarian responders in the area is making things difficult,” said Romain Briey, the MSF coordinator in Masisi.
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