The city of Kitshanga, in the Bashali kingdom in Masisi territory in the North Kivu province, woke up on Monday April 10 in total surprise linked to the withdrawal of the M23 rebels who had occupied this entity for several months now. Sources in the area report that these rebels began to leave at 10 PM on Sunday April 9.
In the early morning of Monday, the population was surprised to note the absence of these rebels from all the positions they occupied.
“All the M23 positions in Kitshanga are empty, we went to see it for ourselves, we have just recovered all that remained, mainly firewood,” said one of our sources.
Around 9 a.m. this monday, a delegation of 14 military vehicles made up of Burundian troops from the EAC regional force, elements of the CIRGL and the Congolese armed forces (FARDC), went to the area to verify the effectiveness of the withdrawal rebels.
In their withdrawal, which also concerned the surroundings of Kitshanga, the rebels, according to testimonies, took the direction of Bishusha and Tongo, in the neighboring territory of Rutshuru.
The civil society of the territory of Masisi still expresses doubts as to the effective withdrawal of the M23 in the agglomerations of this part of North Kivu.
“The elements of the M23 are in the city of Kitshanga. Many are in civilian clothes for reasons of diversion. Their taxes have been collected so far!”, says Telesphore Mitondeke, secretary for this structure.
To the west, in Rutshuru, the same operation was observed where the M23 rebels left the city of Kiwanja on Monday in the hands of Ugandan troops from the EAC.
Through a tweet, the spokesperson for the Ugandan EAC troops confirmed the withdrawal of the M23 rebels and the deployment of the regional EAC force in Kiwanja.
“Ugandan contingent as part of EACRF deploys in Kiwanja/Rushuru as M23 cedes Kiwanja in eastern DRC,” he wrote.
This deployment continues in the city of Kiwanja and Mabenga, in the territory of Rutshuru. In Kiwanja, this operation takes place in discretion to the point that some residents were surprised by the news.
Illar Meztiller
