KINSHASHA- The Democratic Republic of Congo Army has disclosed that it had taken back the Eastern Town of Kalembe, a day after it was seized by M23 rebels, but rebels said they still controlled the town.
Kalembe, a small town in Walikale territory in militia-plagued North Kivu, came under M23 control on Sunday morning when rebels seized it from Congolese Armed Forces and pro-government armed groups.
The Tutsi-led M23 group has been waging a renewed insurgency in the central African country’s east since 2022 and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations accuse neighboring Rwanda of backing the group with its own troops and weapons. Rwanda denies this.
The Democratic Republic of Congo Army Spokesman Sylvain Ekenge said Kalembe was recaptured yestrday evening, but Corneille Nangaa, the leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which includes M23, said rebels were still in control.
Ekenge said fighting was ongoing between the pro-government militia and the M23 in areas that were not under army control and Military troops were flown in on helicopters yesterday morning to deal with the situation.
The Angola’s Government has said that the M23’s incursion into Kalembe Town violated an Angola-mediated ceasefire agreed in August, although an official from Walikale Territory, Kabaki Alimasi, confirmed that the Army had taken the Town back but said fighting continued nearby and the M23 are not far as gunfire could be heard, the population that fled town has not yet returned.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Reugees, the insurgency in Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich East has deepened a humanitarian crisis in North Kivu, where around 2.6 million people were displaced as of end-September.
Additional Reporting from Associated Press.
