UN troops in DRC make ‘strategic withdrawal’ from key army base

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has withdrawn troops from the eastern military base of Rumangabo, ceding ground in the battle against the M23 rebel group.

UN troops have been supporting Congolese forces against the M23, which launched a new offensive in October and seized the town of Kiwanja on Saturday, breaking months of relative calm.

“We have made a strategic and tactical withdrawal from Rumangabo, in consultation with our partners, to better prepare the next steps together,” the UN mission, known as MONUSCO, said in a post on Twitter on Tuesday.

It did not provide further details.

The M23 resumed fighting in late 2021 after lying dormant for years, accusing the DRC government of failing to honor an agreement to integrate its fighters into the army

The front line between the Congolese military and the M23 had been calm for several weeks, but fresh clashes from October 20 saw the rebel group make advances across North Kivu province.

The loss of the key military base is a setback for DRC and a further blow to the security outlook in the conflict-hit east, even as thousands remain displaced from the region.

“It’s [Kiwanja’s] fall is another humiliation for [the government in] Kinshasa. But it also raises serious questions, once again, of how an extremely small rebellion can do this on their own,” said Jason Stearns, the founder of the Congo Studies Group, a research institute at New York University.

The crisis has also deepened a standoff with neighboring Rwanda over its alleged support for the rebels, which it denies. In October, Kinshasa expelled Rwanda’s ambassador to the DRC.

In August, UN experts said they had found solid evidence Rwanda had been providing military aid to M23 in eastern DRC. Rwanda’s government has disputed the findings.

Agencies