Fighting Resumes Between M23 Rebels and Congolese Armed Forces in Lubero

According to Actualite.cd, clashes reignited on the afternoon of Tuesday, February 11, between M23 rebels, backed by the Rwandan military, and the Congolese armed forces, supported by Wazalendo fighters, along the Lubero front in North Kivu. This outbreak of violence follows a brief period of relative calm.

A local leader from Ndoluma, a rear base of the Congolese army, said that around 1 p.m. local time, M23 rebels began shelling Congolese military positions in Kivisire, a town approximately 15 km from Mambasa de Lubero, near the national road along the Bingi axis.

This escalation occurred just a day after a deadly bombing by the M23 on Sunday evening, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of a civilian and several Congolese soldiers.

“At this moment (2:00 p.m. local time), we can hear heavy artillery fire here in Ndoluma, where we are attending the funeral of the civilian killed in Sunday’s attack targeting our soldiers. The gunfire is coming from Kivisire, and we are witnessing intense shelling. The rebels are attacking military positions, and the FARDC is responding,” said the local leader.

The renewed fighting comes despite an appeal for a ceasefire made on Saturday by leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) during a joint summit in Tanzania, which focused on the security crisis in eastern Congo.

Currently, in Lubero, the main front line lies between Mambasa, the capital of the Bamate chiefdom, controlled by the Congolese army, and Alimbongo, a strategically significant village held by M23 rebels with alleged support from the Rwandan military.

(Source: Actualite.cd)