Members of rebel group injured by gunfire following repatriation attempt

By

Sylvain Muyali

Former members of the rebel group M23 were injured by gunfire Tuesday, December 16th during an attempted forced repatriation to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Several former members of the M23 who were confined to the military camp at Bihamba, some 380 km southwest of Kampala, were forced early morning to return the DRC during a repatriation operation.

According to the president of the M23, Bertrand Bisimwa, the Ugandan army had attempted to use force, the approximately 1,300 former combatants fleeing the DRC during the collapse of their rebellion in November 2013.

A Ugandan military source confirmed this, adding that the operation had encountered “resistance” and that many ex M23 combatants had been shot.

President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni announced that he would grant the status of ‘political refugee’ to all former M23 rebels remaining on its territory after 12th December.

As a reminder, the M23 Movement is a group that was created by the war in Kivu. Having been dislodged from their positions in the mountains of North Kivu, bordering Rwanda and Uganda, the Congolese military (FARDC) supported by MONUSCO, confirmed that the M23 rebels had been disarmed with two days later, approximately 1500 of its members returning to the authorities.

Sylvain Muyali

Sylvain Muyali is a Journalist, Photographer and Filmmaker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has reported previously for the Associated Press and his words and images can also be found at ‘Vivons Positivement‘