DRC army seizes key positions

[iolsa]

Ntamugenga, DR Congo - Democratic Republic of Congo troops on Monday drove M23 rebels from one of their key hilltop positions in the east of the country,  pushing on with their assault despite calls for a truce.

The Congolese army has “completely conquered” the Mbuzi hilltop,  a senior official said, as fighting raged in the mountainous region  where rebels holed up after being forced from their last stronghold  of Bunagana last week.

Troops launched a fresh assault despite calls by an M23 leader for a truce which prompted United Nations special envoys to urge Kinshasa to refrain from pressing on with the offensive.

Heavy shelling could be heard by AFP journalists in the small town of Ntamugenga near the battle zone in the lush, hilly region bordering Uganda which has been rocked by fighting for nearly two weeks.

“Victory, Victory,” soldiers cried at a post in the town after receiving a radio message that their colleagues had taken Mbuzi.

“We are attacking Chanzu and Mbuzi and then Runyoni,” an army officer told AFP earlier, referring to the three hilltops, at about  2 000 metres (6 500 feet) altitude, where dozens of holdout rebels have dug in.

“We can't stop...there are only a few hills left to conquer,” he  added.

On the back foot militarily, the M23 rebels' political leader Bertrand Bisimwa had called a ceasefire on Sunday.

“We order all the forces of the Congolese revolutionary army to immediately end hostilities with the armed forces,” he said in a statement.

Bisimwa said his aim was to “allow the continuation of the political process” with Kinshasa in a bid to end the insurgency rocking the long-troubled region since April 2012.

Congolese troops were firing on the Chanzu hill from Bunagana, which lies on the Ugandan border, said a civilian returning from the frontline on a motorcycle taxi.

“Since this morning... the FARDC are trying to fire shells on Chanzu. The rebels are retaliating. Bombs have been raining on Bunagana,” he said, claiming that a child was killed on Sunday and another wounded.

The resumption of clashes came as international envoys issued a statement describing the previous day's rebel truce call as “a necessary step to peace” and urging the army to refrain from further military action.

The European Union, African Union and top envoys of the United Nations - which has an elite force of African troops backing the FARDC - said in the statement they were “concerned about the renewed outbreak of violence”.

According to AFP correspondents in Ntamugenga, close to the battle zone, the fighting raged for about eight hours on Sunday and  had appeared to intensify after the ceasefire order.

The rebels have in recent days suffered a string of military defeats and the territory under their control had by Monday shrunk to a few hilltops east of Bunagana.

Bunagana lies around 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Goma, the capital of the mineral-rich North Kivu province, which the M23

briefly captured about a year ago.

Only weeks ago, the M23 had threatened to retake Goma, charging that Kinshasa was violating its side of a political deal reached in  Uganda.

Kinshasa and the United Nations have repeatedly accused neighbouring Rwanda of supporting the rebels.

Kigali virulently denies this allegation but has threatened to intervene, accusing the Congolese army of firing shells into its territory on several occasions.

Analysts say restraint by Rwanda in recent weeks, better preparation by the Congolese troops and the backing of a UN brigade  with an unprecedented offensive mandate have changed the game.

“There was huge American pressure on (Rwandan President Paul) Kagame, to request him not to act,” a Kinshasa-based diplomat said.

While the UN forces have not directly participated in the battle  since October 25 against the M23 rebels, they have supported the Congolese army with aerial reconnaissance, intelligence and planning.

The M23 movement was founded by ethnic Tutsi former rebels who were incorporated into the Congolese army under a 2009 peace deal but then mutinied in April 2012, claiming that the pact had never been fully implemented.

Access to the region's vast mineral wealth

[iolsa]