AFRICA/DR CONGO - New violence in North Kivu: "there is an attempt to block the operations against the FDLR" denounces civil society

Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "From east to west, from north to south, there is insecurity in the territory of Rutshuru", says a statement sent to Agenzia Fides by the Civil Society of North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The press reports the killing of four police officers in the region. The four officers were killed on March 17 in a shootout in the town of Bunagana, in front of a hotel owned by a former member of the M23, the pro-Rwandan rebel movement.
Always on March 17 eight men were abducted: the van they were traveling on was stopped by armed men on the road between Butembo and Goma, the capital of North Kivu. Only the male passengers were seized, while the women were released.
According to the coordination of local civil Society, these incidents are attempts to destabilize North Kivu in order to block the operations carried out by the Congolese military against the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), another group of Rwandan origin, originally formed by Hutu militia accused of the 1994 genocide. M23 and FDLR should formally be opponents. In reality, among the various armed groups in North Kivu, tacit understandings and agreements have been formed to divide control of illegal exploitation of vast natural resources of the area. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 18/03/2015)


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