GOMA, DR Congo — A ceasefire between government troops and M23 rebels appeared to be
holding for a third day on Monday in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
despite clashes between rival militias, residents told AFP.
اضافة اعلان
Under the
ceasefire that came into force on Friday night, the March 23 group, which has
seized swathes of territory, was to withdraw from “occupied zones,” failing
which an East African regional force would intervene.
But by Monday
local people reported no sign of a rebel pullout of those zones.
Over the weekend,
sporadic clashes occurred between the mainly Congolese Tutsi M23 fighters and
Hutu factions such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation Rwanda (FDLR).
“During the
night, an M23 vehicle was caught in an ambush” at Kinyandonyi village in Rutshuru
territory, a hospital source said Monday.
“There were
deaths but it’s difficult to know more.”
On Sunday, the
FDLR, present in the sprawling DRC since the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in
neighboring Rwanda, carried out another attack 30km away at Biruma, a resident
said.
On Saturday, six
civilians died when a local ethnic militia and the FDLR clashed at Kisharo,
close to the same area, a hospital source said.
Despite fighting
between the M23 and the army continuing right up to the ceasefire deadline
north of the provincial capital Goma, no clashes have since been reported
between the two, according to locals telephoned by AFP.
The frontlines
have remained calm, they said.
AFP was unable
to independently confirm the accounts from local people.
The March 23
group had been dormant for years, but took up arms again late last year
accusing the government of failing to honor a disarmament deal.
M23 has overrun
large tracts of mountainous Rutshuru territory north of Goma, a city of one
million which they briefly captured 10 years ago.
The advance on
Goma has halted over the last two weeks but the rebels had still been gaining
ground on other fronts, in the west towards Masisi and in the northeast.
The DRC accuses
neighboring
Rwanda of supporting the rebels — charges Kigali denies and in turn
alleges Kinshasa works with the FDLR.
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