According to the Reuters news agency, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has requested military assistance from neighboring Chad in order to combat M23 rebels who have been migrating southward towards Uvira, which is close to Burundi.
According to Reuters news agency, which cited a Chadian official and a source in the Congolese presidency, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has requested military assistance from Chad to combat a raging insurgency by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in its eastern regions.
On behalf of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, the DRC’s Minister of Regional Integration met with Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno on Tuesday, the country’s administration announced on Facebook.
The negotiations’ specifics were not made public. According to a Chadian official with knowledge of the talks, Chad was debating whether to ask the DRC for assistance but had not yet decided on the matter.
According to a source in the DRC presidency, Kinshasa asked Chad for diplomatic and military assistance on Wednesday.
No additional information was given by either source. For reasons of secrecy, they chose not to be identified.
Requests for response on Wednesday were not answered by Gassim Cherif, the spokesman for the Chad government. Tina Salama, Tshisekedi’s spokesperson, stated that she was unaware of any information regarding the situation.
“Nothing is ruled out”, according to a Chadian official, but the possible support has not been publicly discussed.
Chad’s Foreign Affairs Minister told Reuters last week that it was “pure speculation” to offer military assistance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Rebels from M23 head south toward Uvira
On Wednesday, clashes between allied forces erupted in Uvira, a town on the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to local reports.
Scenes of looting, dead in the street, and government soldiers stealing boats to escape across Lake Tanganyika were reported by locals and officials. They claimed that the jail was similarly empty.
Since taking control of the province capital Bukavu over the weekend, the M23 rebels have been heading south towards Uvira, which borders Burundi on a lake. This is the DRC’s worst defeat since the collapse of Goma, the largest city in the region, in late January.
Uvira, 80 kilometers to the south, is in a state of terror following the rebels’ alleged Tuesday incursion into the town of Kamanyola. Retreating DRC army have encountered allied militia known as the Wazalendo who are unwilling to leave since the collapse of Bukavu.
Additionally, four residents of Uvira reported hearing gunfire in the city. According to a humanitarian source, the violence left over 100 people hospitalized with critical injuries, 30 bodies in the town’s morgue, and bodies laying in the streets.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF), a medical charity, reported that armed looting and violence in Uvira were obstructing ambulances and forcing the organization to cut back on staff in the area.
According to a local official, a diplomatic source, and a security source, more than 500 DRC police officers escaped to Burundi and were disarmed there. Requests for communication for the DRC and Burundi’s interior ministers were not answered.
In the east, where M23’s extraordinary territorial gains and seizure of lucrative mining areas have fueled worries of a larger conflict, the mayhem highlights the DRC government’ waning authority.
One security source claimed that a large number of soldiers were boarding boats to flee Uvira, “creating unrest among people who can’t get on” and “shooting in all directions”.
Uganda enters the conflict
The recent pullout of friendly Burundian forces has raised doubts about the DRC’s ability to mount a defense against the M23’s assault, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Such a retreat has been disputed by Burundi. Uganda entered the conflict when its army said on Tuesday that it has sent troops to combat local militias in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo town of Bunia.
According to army spokesperson Mak Hazukay, fighting between the DRC’s army and rebels has also erupted in neighboring North Kivu province. He also stated that several soldiers had left their positions in the area, causing panic.
Rekindling a battle over power, ethnic rivalry, and natural riches that dates back to the genocide in neighboring Rwanda in the 1990s, the well-equipped M23 is the most recent in a long line of ethnic Tutsi-led rebel movements to emerge in the turbulent east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Rwanda disputes claims made by the DRC and the UN that it provides the organization with personnel and weapons. It claims to be protecting itself from a Hutu militia that is battling alongside the DRC’s armed forces.
Rwanda has employed its proxy militias to steal its minerals, including coltan, which is used in computers and smartphones, according to the DRC, which denies Rwanda’s grievances.
The chaos in the east has stoked anxiety and fear 1,600 kilometers away in Kinshasa, the capital, where some citizens are considering moving their families overseas due to open talk of a coup.
