The war waged by M23 in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo is increasingly taking on another aspect, and is gradually reaffirming all the notes taken up by the United Nations experts in their various reports. From a war of aggression to an economic war, Rwanda seems to no longer have the means to camouflage its unfortunate shenanigans, which have pushed millions of citizens to flee their natural environments, many lives having also been lost.
After eight months of controlling the city of Ngungu, the M23 rebels were dislodged from this strategic entity in the Masisi territory by the Congolese army supported by young volunteers for the defense of the homeland called Wazalendo and some units of the Burundian army who intervene in the DRC within the framework of bilateral relations between the two countries.
This recapture of Ngungu, which came after those of the villages of Kamatale, Luizi, Ruzirantaka, Kabingo and Kasake, only lasted ten days, casting doubt on the hopes of progress of these forces fighting for the DRC, who were nevertheless preparing to launch attacks on the mining city of Rubaya that the M23 is protecting at all costs.
By retaking Ngungu, the RDF-M23 coalition subsequently succeeded in breaking through the wall of resistance to the point of crossing the borders of the neighboring province of South Kivu.
Ngungu, the misfortune of Lumbishi
The fall of the city of Ngungu negatively affected the morale of the soldiers engaged on the front lines, to the point of allowing the RDF and M23 to advance in Kasake, as far as the locality of Lumbishi in the territory of Kalehe in South Kivu.
"We were surprised to see the enemy approaching Lumbishi so quickly when we thought the threat was still very far from our village. We cannot understand how the rebels ended up here, yet the FARDC, the Wazalendo and the Burundian soldiers are still near Kamatale, Kabingo, Ruzirantaka," Saying , the residents of Lumbishi who were fleeing.
The funnel theory to suffocate Goma and extend the plundering of minerals
This dizzying progression of the Rwandan army and the M23 rebels would aim not only to further suffocate the city of Goma, already surrounded from Kibumba to Sake, but also to push Kinshasa to negotiate directly with the "M23 terrorists", a condition that Kinshasa has always rejected.
In front of ambassadors and representatives of international organizations, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, recently reiterated his clear position of never considering direct dialogue with the M23. He specified that he did not intend to give in to any international pressure to dialogue with a group that he describes as "terrorist."
The advance of the M23-RDF army in the territory of Kalehe, in the province of South Kivu, is a godsend for Rwanda and its ally to extend their zone of plundering of natural resources, believes Mupenzi Mvuyekure, a notable of Kalehe.
The villages of Lumbishi and Shanje, occupied by the rebels since last weekend, are rich in raw materials such as tourmaline, coltan, cassiterite, gold and several others.
The mining town of Numbi also came under the control of the Rwandan army and M23 this evening, while several other credible sources claim that the M23 rebels intend to continue the conquest of the village of Nyabibwe in South Kivu province, whose subsoil is full of resources such as gold, coltan, manganese, cassiterite and tourmaline.
To achieve this, the M23 army simultaneously launched attacks on Monday, January 20 against FARDC positions on all axes that could lead them to the town of Minova, the only food supply route to the city of Goma, which remains under the control of the Congolese army. Population movements have been observed there since the early hours of the day, despite assurances from the Congolese military authorities. The latest information in the area is that the villages of Bitaata, Bitonga, Buyaga and Bishange have come under the control of the M23.
This progression of the M23, supported by Rwanda, worries the populations living around Lake Kivu, who are calling on the Congolese government to redouble its efforts to definitively put an end to these conflicts.
In an official tweet, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs reacted to President Tshisekedi's position of not engaging in direct dialogue with the M23, while remaining open to continuing the Luanda process. Olivier Nduhungirehe writes: "And yet, the Luanda process can never resume and succeed without a firm commitment from the Democratic Republic of Congo to engage directly with the AFC-M23."
