By Faith Nyasuguta
Congolese Armed Forces have accused the Rwandan military group dubbed ‘Buhumba’ of infiltrating and invading the Nyiragongo region in North Kivu located in the eastern parts of DR Congo.
Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, claims that it recovered one Rwandan weapon and a few other items. It also claimed that the forces had invaded six villages at the time.
“We had just woken up when we heard gunshots. A lot of shots! A few minutes later we saw Rwandan soldiers arrive in our neighborhood, and we had no choice but to flee and leave our cattle behind, and when we returned, they had already taken everything away;” a resident revealed.
The Congolese civil society groups have pointed fingers at the national apparatus for not issuing them security against external invasion.
“The Rwandan army is organized at the border but the Congolese army is not organized because of the lack of manpower and the lack of logistics capable of containing the attacks that can occur at any time,” Mambo Kawaya, a rights activist from the area said.
Meanwhile, the Congolese army said they had fought off the incursion.
“The North Kivu operational sector Sokola 2 confirms the invasion of external elements on Congolese soil. They occupied 6 villages and had come through 200 meters from the national road number 2. We have recovered a weapon from them which we have presented to the press. We have also recovered looted items,” Major Guillaume Njike Kaiko, the army mouthpiece in the area, said.
For about four months, civil society in the Nyiragongo area has cautioned over the presence of the Rwandan army on Congolese soil.
