Keystone-SDA
The Rwandan-backed armed group M23 and the Congolese army had increased use of “explosive weapons in populated areas” in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the first half of 2024, according to an Amnesty investigation International published Monday.
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January 20, 2025 – 05:14
(Keystone-ATS) The M23 (“March 23 Movement”), supported by Rwanda and 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers deployed alongside it, has seized, since its resurgence at the end of 2021, vast swaths of territory in eastern DRC, rich in natural resources and torn apart for 30 years by conflicts.
The Congolese army, which said it was “determined” to retake lost territories, has been carrying out counter-offensives for several days and is supported by “wazalendo”, a name meaning “patriots” in Swahili and designating a nebula of local militias. pro-Kinshasa.
-Between January and July 2024, “imprecise explosive weapons with a wide impact radius were used in densely populated areas more than 150 times (…), causing more than 100 deaths” and hundreds of injured civilians, writes Amnesty international.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which announced it was relaunching its investigations into the situation in eastern DRC last year, “must consider investigating these attacks as war crimes”, with a view to translating bring the perpetrators to justice, whoever they may be, adds the NGO.
In recent weeks, clashes have intensified, reaching the neighboring province of South Kivu where the M23 took control of the mining town of Lumbishi, in the territory of Kalehe, on Saturday evening.
Amnesty International says Congolese authorities and M23 leaders have not responded to the preliminary findings of its investigation, shared last December.
