GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have seized the eastern border town of Bunagana, local activists said on Monday, sending more than 30,000 civilians fleeing into neighboring Uganda.
The capture of Bunagana marked a major setback for Congolese forces who said a day earlier they had the insurgents on the run.
The United Nations and African Union voiced alarm about the mounting violence in a region where conflicts in the 1990s and 2000s cost millions of lives, mostly from disease and hunger, and spawned dozens of militias that remain active to this day.
Bunagana was an M23 stronghold during a 2012 insurrection that briefly overran the major city of Goma before Congolese and UN forces chased the rebels into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda the following year.
The office of North Kivu’s military governor said on Sunday that Congolese forces had “routed” the M23 following early-morning attacks near Bunagana, which is one of the main crossings into Uganda.
Image from Google Maps
But Jean-Baptise Twizere, the president of a local civil society group, said the town fell to the rebels on Sunday night.
“Congolese soldiers who found themselves encircled by enemies in Bunagana could not do anything and since 11 p.m. they have left the city,” he told Reuters on Monday from Bunagana.
Edgard Mateso, the vice president of an advocacy group in North Kivu province, confirmed the M23 takeover.
General Sylvain Ekenge, the spokesman for North Kivu’s military government, said he did not yet have any information.
‘Desperate situation’
The fighting caused more than 30,000 Congolese asylum seekers and 137 Congolese soldiers to cross into Uganda on Monday, Shaffiq Sekandi, Uganda’s resident district commissioner for Kisoro district, told Reuters.
“They are all over, the streets are full, others have gone to churches, they are under trees, everywhere. It’s a really desperate situation,” he said.
The United Nations had previously said that 25,000 people fled the violence on Sunday.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was concerned about deteriorating security in eastern Congo, including M23 attacks. The region has seen near-constant conflict since Rwanda and Uganda invaded twice in the 1990s.
African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for talks between Congo and Rwanda to resolve a growing diplomatic crisis.
Congolese authorities on Sunday renewed accusations that Rwanda has been backing the latest offensive by the M23, whose leadership hails from the same Tutsi ethnic group as Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
Rwanda has denied providing any support and accused Congo of collaborating with another militia group founded by ethnic Hutus who fled Rwanda after participating in the 1994 genocide. Congo denies this charge.
During the 2012-2013 conflict, Congo and UN investigators accused Rwanda and Uganda of supporting the M23, which they denied.
On Monday, two senior Congolese security sources, who asked not to be named, also accused the Ugandan military of supporting the M23’s offensive.
Twizere said he had seen Ugandan troops cross the border to block the Congolese army’s access to Bunagana.
Uganda’s army spokesman Brigadier Felix Kulayigye denied any involvement. “We are only closely watching what’s going on from across the border and we have been in that position for months,” he said.
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