Goma, DR Congo, Nov 25 (AFP\/APP):M23 rebels were still fighting and advancing on one front of their offensive in east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday as a ceasefire came into force, civilian and military sources said.<\/p>\n
Clashes continued after the 1700 GMT deadline to cease fire near Bwiza, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the provincial capital Goma, local people told AFP by telephone.<\/p>\n
“M23 is at Bwiza,” an administrative source said, adding that the rebels had taken over several villages in the area.<\/p>\n
AFP was unable to independently confirm the account.<\/p>\n
During the morning, fighting was also reported near Bwiza, the former stronghold of former Congolese Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda who operated there in the 2000s.<\/p>\n
Fighting also took place during the day between the M23 and a Hutu militia in Bambo, 70 kilometres (45 miles) from Goma.<\/p>\n
“Heavy weapons fire can be heard, people are in a panic,” a civil society representative told AFP.<\/p>\n
A security source confirmed the firing between the M23 and combatants from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu faction present in the DRC since the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda.<\/p>\n
Calm seemed to have returned to Bambo as evening fell.<\/p>\n
The situation appeared more settled 20 kilometres north of Goma, where a frontline has formed over the last two weeks close to the town of Kibumba on national highway two.<\/p>\n
– ‘Respect ceasefire’ – <\/p>\n
DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta met in Angola on Wednesday, agreeing a deal on the cessation of hostilities in eastern DRC from Friday evening.<\/p>\n
M23 rebels were to withdraw from “occupied zones”, failing which the East African regional force would intervene.<\/p>\n
But the rebels, a largely Congolese Tutsi militia, said Thursday the ceasefire “doesn’t really concern us”, and called for “direct dialogue” with DRC’s government.<\/p>\n
“Normally when there is a ceasefire it is between the two warring sides,” a spokesman for the rebels added.<\/p>\n
Then on Friday, M23 president Bertrand Bisimwa put out a statement in English saying, “Yet again, the M23 accepts the ceasefire as recommended” by the Luanda summit.<\/p>\n
But he called on Kinshasa “to respect the said ceasefire, otherwise the M23 reserves itself the full right to defend itself”.<\/p>\n
The March 23 group had been dormant for years, but took up arms again late last year.<\/p>\n
The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the rebels — charges Kigali denies.<\/p>\n
The rebels have recently seized swaths of mountainous Rutshuru territory north of Goma, a city of one million which they briefly captured 10 years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Goma, DR Congo, Nov 25 (AFP\/APP):M23 rebels were still fighting and advancing on one front of their offensive in east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday as a ceasefire came into force, civilian and military sources said. Clashes continued after the 1700 GMT […]<\/p>\n
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