DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: DR Congo troops make advances against M23 rebels capturing its last hilltop strongholds, raising hopes for peace in a region where millions have died in nearly two decades of violence

Record ID: 375657

  • Title: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: DR Congo troops make advances against M23 rebels capturing its last hilltop strongholds, raising hopes for peace in a region where millions have died in nearly two decades of violence
  • Date: 6th November 2013
  • Summary: RUNYONI, DR CONGO (NOVEMBER 5,2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONGOLESE ARMED FORCES (FARDC) HILLTOP POSITIONS / FIRING MACHINE GUNS VARIOUS OF FARDC VARIOUS OF FARDC TROOPS CHECKING WEAPONS FARDC ADVANCING VARIOUS OF FARDC TROOPS WITH A WEAPONS CACHE (SOUNDBITE) (French) CONGOLESE ARMY OFFICER, CAPTAIN FRANC, SAYING: "This is for the M23, they had their cache of weapons here
  • Embargoed: 21st November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
  • Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of
  • Reuters ID: LVA3I50EH148UML2YOBICP2AJS84
  • Story Text: The Congolese armed forces (FARDC) successfully captured the last rebel hilltop strongholds on Tuesday (November 5) with Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebel group calling an end to a 20-month revolt raising hopes for peace in a region where millions have died in nearly two decades of violence.
    The M23 announced it would disarm and pursue political talks hours after government forces drove the rebels out of the villages of Tshanzu and Runyoni before dawn. A two-week U.N.-backed offensive had cornered the insurgents in the lush hills along the border with Uganda and Rwanda.

    "This is for the M23, they had their cache of weapons here, but with the government's firepower they all finished up. You see the same jeeps and vehicles are all finished," said Congolese army officer Captain Franc in the village of Runyoni.
    The United States welcomed the declaration as a "significant positive step" for eastern Congo. Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger since the 1990s as foreign-backed insurgents have waged a series of rebellions, often for control of the region's rich deposits of gold, diamonds and tin.
    M23's defeat appeared to vindicate the United Nations' deployment of a tough new Intervention Brigade this year. But, with dozens of rebel groups still active, pacifying the mineral-rich region at Africa's heart remains a daunting task.

    "That will happen as well as it is not the end of the war because there are still other groups who still have weapons on Congolese territory and we will also disarm them by force if they do not want to comply peacefully," said FARDC spokesman Colonel Olivier Hamuli.
    The M23 is just the latest manifestation of simmering anger with Kinshasa among ethnic Tutsis in eastern Congo. The real test will be whether government and rebels can reach a lasting political deal. M23 took up arms last year when a previous 2009 peace accord with the Tutsi-led CNDP rebels unravelled.
    In the distant capital, Kinshasa, thousands of women dressed in white marched down the central boulevard to parliament chanting songs praising Kabila and the army.
    M23's defeat marked a dramatic turnaround for 42-year-old Kabila. A year ago, his presidency was in tatters after M23 swept aside U.N. peacekeepers and the army to capture Goma, the largest town in eastern Congo.
    That defeat led to the deployment of the new U.N. Intervention Brigade, an overhaul of the Congolese army, and increased diplomatic pressure on neighbouring Rwanda not to meddle in the conflict, changing the tide of events. M23 has since been riven by defections and factional in-fighting.
    Martin Kobler, head of a 19,850-member U.N. mission in Congo (MONUSCO), said attention would now turn to the remaining armed groups, including the Rwandan Hutu FDLR and Uganda's ADF-NALU.
    The U.N. special envoy to the region Mary Robinson issued a joint statement with Feingold and Kobler calling for swift disarmament of the M23 and accountability for perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Analysts say M23's military leader Makenga was among those unlikely to benefit from any amnesty.
    The Rwandan Hutu FDLR, which analysts say numbers more than 1,500 fighters paid for by illegal mining and logging, will likely be the priority for Congo's army and U.N. troops.
    The FDLR includes some Hutus who fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus. Its presence in Congo has long been used by Kigali as a pretext for intervening.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register