The announcement was made by AFC/M23 Deputy Coordinator for Political Affairs, Diplomacy and Governance, Bertrand Bisimwa, after the group said it had captured several strategic areas, including Point-Zéro, Mikenke, Kalingi, Ilundu and Rwitsankuku, from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), Burundian troops, the FDLR terrorist group and Wazalendo fighters.
Following the capture of the areas, senior AFC/M23 officials, including Bisimwa, Dr. Freddy Kaniki, who oversees the coalition’s economic and financial affairs and also serves as president of MRDP Twirwaneho, and M23 Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Bernard Byamungu, visited the newly controlled locations.
According to AFC/M23, the visit, which was accompanied by its fighters, was intended to reassure local residents that government and allied forces would no longer be able to launch attacks in the area.
On July 8, residents of Minembwe welcomed the delegation with songs of celebration and traditional Igisirimba dances. AFC/M23 and Twirwaneho officials, dressed in military uniform, joined residents in celebrating what they described as a major victory.
Sources in South Kivu said the visit by AFC/M23 leaders and fighters to Minembwe and neighbouring areas was challenging because of the difficult terrain, including dense forests and mountainous landscapes.
Addressing residents, Bisimwa said AFC/M23 Coordinator Corneille Nangaa and the coalition’s military commander, Maj. Gen. Sultani Makenga, had sent him to deliver a message that fighting in Minembwe was over.
“Our leadership, including Gen. Sultani Makenga and Coordinator Corneille Nangaa, asked me to tell you that the war in Minembwe has ended,” Bisimwa said. “They said enough blood has been shed, and they will not allow the enemy to return here.”
Bisimwa compared the Congolese government’s efforts to retake Minembwe to the biblical story of the Israelites who, under Moses, reached the edge of Canaan but were unable to enter.
“They will see Minembwe, but they will not enter it,” he said, referring to government and allied forces.
He further said fighters from different parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had joined forces with MRDP Twirwaneho to oppose what AFC/M23 describes as attempts by the Congolese government and its allies to target Congolese communities on the basis of their ethnicity.
“They have united to tell the enemy that the idea of taking up arms to eliminate people because of their ethnicity or the way they were created is an illusion,” Bisimwa said.
AFC/M23 also argued that history has shown attempts to eradicate communities ultimately fail, saying it believes the Congolese government will not achieve what it described as such objectives.
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