M23 rebels resume attacks in Congo

The M23 rebels have resumed attacks on armed forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after a two-day lull in fighting.

Rebel fighters struck at dawn on Tuesday near the village of Ihusi, located 40km (25 miles) from a strategic military airport in Kavumu and about 70km (43 miles) from Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, reports Al Jazeera.

The M23, which claims to protect ethnic Tutsis, started advancing on South Kivu after taking control of North Kivu's Goma in a bloody raid that killed thousands last month, resuming hostilities despite calls from 24 regional leaders for an immediate ceasefire. Bukavu has been preparing for an M23 offensive for several days, shuttering schools on Friday as residents began to flee and shops closed over fears of an imminent attack.

Al Jazeera's Malcolm Webb, who was reporting from Nairobi in Kenya, said "anxious" residents of Bukavu were waiting to find out if "M23 and its Rwandan supporters" would succeed in advancing on the city.

Meanwhile, people fleeing a displacement camp located west of North Kivu's capital, Goma, claimed an M23 colonel had entered the site on Sunday and ordered them to leave within three days.

The M23 released a statement on Monday denying those accusations, saying that people were voluntarily leaving the Bulengo camp, returning to what it called their "now-secured homes in liberated areas".

Many people have been living for up to two years in the "swelling camp" and did not know if they had homes to which they could return, Webb
added. "Most of them appear now to be packing up and beginning the journey.


Some others have said they will wait and see if and when they are forced to leave," he said.
On Wednesday, 24 East and Southern African leaders called for an "immediate and unconditional" ceasefire in DRC within five days, fearing the conflict would spill over into neighbouring countries.

The UN says conflict has forced 6.7 million people from their homes within the country, most from North and South Kivu provinces where violence and insecurity have increased since 2021, with the resurgence of the M23 rebels.