Africa-Press – Rwanda. Villages inhabited by unarmed Banyamulenge civilians were again targeted in attacks by the Congolese army and its Wazalendo allied militia in South Kivu Province, early Wednesday, March 19, according to Moise Nyarugabo, a Congolese lawyer.
Posting on X, Nyarugabo, a lawyer from the Banyamulenge community who has in the past reported similar attacks against his people, explained that the latest attacks targeted several rural communities in Minembwe, a cluster of villages located in the highlands of Lulenge, within the Fizi Territory of South Kivu Province.
Nyarugabo said: “I thought I heard and read about an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. Unfortunately, early this morning of 19/03/25, the FARDC and Wazalendo launched an attack on Bilalo Mbili and Mikenke north of Minembwe from Point Zero and another attack on Murunde from Kipupu to the west on the one hand. On the other hand, other attacks are launched against the village of Bigaragara from Rugezi and that of Muliza to the southeast of Minembwe center.
“I call on the Babembe, Bafulero, and Banyindu armed groups to stop these attacks which, for 8 years have brought nothing positive to each other especially since in return no one attacks their villages. After all this we will be forced to live together in these mountains. No one is going to chase anyone away. Deciding on a ceasefire is one thing and the other very important thing is its implementation.”
End last month, Lawrence Kanyuka, the AFC/M23 rebellion’s spokesperson, indicated that the Congolese government continued massacring civilians in Minembwe, Uvira, and surrounding areas in South Kivu Province, using attack drones guided by MONUSCO intelligence. Villages inhabited by unarmed Banyamulenge civilians were targeted and destroyed by the drones, Sukhoi fighter jets, and mortars of the DR Congo army coalition in South Kivu Province, Bertrand Bisimwa, the AFC/M23 rebellion’s deputy coordinator, said a week later, on March 4.
Bisimwa said the Kinshasa regime is carrying out attacks against peaceful populations, with impunity, in attacks carried out by the Congolese army coalition that includes Burundian armed forces, Rwandan genocidal militias known as FDLR, and Congolese militias called Wazalendo, from Uvira and those who fled Bukavu.
“300 Tutsi homes burned to the ground in Nturo by FDLR!”
He added: “The reason for these attacks is that these villages are heavily inhabited by Banyamulenge populations that the regime assimilates to Rwandans.
“These massacres targeting unarmed civilians are unacceptable and condemnable. If the world has chosen to remain silent on the criminal underworld of the Kinshasa regime babysat by certain states, the AFC/M23 will not passively witness the massacres of innocent civilians, we will take our responsibilities.”
On Monday, the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), which includes M23 rebels, withdrew from the peace talks with the Congolese government, hours before negotiations started in the Angolan capital, Luanda, due to sanctions imposed on the rebellion’s leaders by the EU.
“Our organization can no longer continue its participation in the discussions,” AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a Monday statement, citing government coalition’s continued military operations and EU sanctions on its members as key factors jeopardizing the talks.
“The successive sanctions imposed on our members, including those adopted on the eve of the Luanda discussions, seriously compromise direct dialogue and prevent any progress,” Kanyuka stated.
The rebels say these measures are not just an obstacle to negotiations but a deliberate attempt to ensure the talks collapse before they even begin.
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