FDLR head to South Kivu for “an attack on Rwanda

The Popular Congolese News website has reported that he calm reigns this Thursday, January 31, 2019 in Masisi-center, about sixty km west of Goma (North Kivu) the day after the detonations of heavy weapons heard.

A widespread panic had characterized the populations of the several villages after a militia attack against the army in the area.

Actualite.cd explains that “While the defense minister reports that FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) fighters have been displaced from Masisi to South Kivu in preparation for “an attack on Rwanda,” the army says it is carrying out deep-sea operations in Masisi for a month against all groups in the region.

“The situation is under control. These militia would have thought that Masisi territory was empty because the bulk of our military are in depth where they engage APCLS armed groups, Nduma Defense of Congo, Nyantura Delta and CNRD. So this coalition wanted to attack one of our defenses that is in the center of Masisi. It encountered the firepower of the FARDC. These are the detonations that our population of Masisi heard yesterday in the afternoon, “said Major Ndjike Kaiko Guillaume, spokesman for Operation Sokola 2 who said he was in Masisi.

Without mentioning any assessment, the spokesman of the army indicates that “the situation was recovered by the loyalist forces”.

Civil society in North Kivu is talking about clashes between the army and the APCLS (Patriotic Army for a free and sovereign Congo) in Kalihe and Lwanguba, two villages surrounding Masisi center.

These clashes provoked the massive displacements of the population towards the chief town of the territory.

“The soldiers have left this morning to chase the APCLS in the forest. Until then we do not have the number of populations who have moved but these two villages have more than ten thousand inhabitants. Displaced populations have spent the night, some in the hospital and others in schools, “said John Banyene, president of the civil society of North Kivu.