DRC: Kinshasa powerless to stop crisis in east

Less than a week after the ceasefire was announced, fighting resumed on Thursday 1^Eh December, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They are facing off against elements of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23), a few tens of kilometers north of the North Kivu capital of Goma. Not far from there, in the Bambo area, the same group reportedly clashed with elements of the local Mai Mai Defense Militia. According to FARDC staff and the United Nations mission in the DRC, Monusco, there are believed to be dozens of civilians. “Courageously Killed”.

This new violence comes as leaders of armed rebel groups operating in eastern DRC, civil society or government representatives, around 200 people, gather in Nairobi on Monday, November 28. The objective of the third round of the inter-Congolese dialogue held in the capital of Kenya: “Find long-term solutions to the security situation [dans la partie orientale de la RDC] »In the words of the Commonwealth of East African States. But how can one claim to have achieved this goal when the most active armed group in recent months, the March 23 Movement, is excluded from the discussion?

North Kivu is reeling from a year-long offensive by the armed group, which Kinshasa and its regional allies thought they had eradicated nearly a decade ago, but whose resurgence reflects the powerlessness of the Congolese state to contain the crisis.

Several strategic towns located on National Road 2 have fallen into the hands of the rebels, as well as several border points with Uganda. True, the M23 was stopped about ten kilometers north of Goma. But the group continues to advance under the cover of forests covering Masisi’s volcanic slopes, threatening to cut off supply routes to the regional capital.

Rwandan support for M23

At least 350,000 people have been thrown onto the roads since early 2022, adding to the estimated 4.9 million Congolese already displaced for years by recurring violence in North Kivu, but also in the neighboring provinces of South Kivu and Ituri. UN officials.