Congo army runaways loot and sow panic in North Kivu town

21/2/2025 6:26

The Congolese army called on

deserters to rejoin their units on Thursday, as rogue soldiers

fired guns and looted parts of the eastern town of Lubero after

fleeing nearby clashes with advancing Rwandan-backed rebels.



The unrest points to mounting disarray within the Congolese

armed forces in the face of the M23 rebel group's ongoing

offensive, which has captured eastern Democratic Republic of

Congo's two largest cities and stoked fears of a wider war.



A statement from a military spokesperson for operations in

North Kivu province ordered runaway soldiers around Lubero to

return to their posts within 12 hours and called on all soldiers

to refrain from theft and other illegal acts.



Fighting with the M23 has continued outside the town, in the

southern part of the wider Lubero territory, for the past 72

hours, Congolese army spokesperson Sylvain Ekenge told Reuters.



On Thursday morning, five residents of Lubero town described

chaotic scenes linked to the desertions from the front line,

including bursts of gunfire and looting at the central market

and in shops selling mobile phones and clothes.



"It's complete turmoil in Lubero. Shots can be heard ... The

soldiers are running in all directions," said one of the

residents, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security

concerns.



Later, Lubero's military administrator Alain Kiwewa said

order had been restored in the town and blamed a group of

undisciplined soldiers for sowing panic.







RETREAT FROM BUKAVU



Such incidents and a flare-up of fighting with the M23

around Lubero have added to pressure on the army. It staged a

disorderly retreat in neighbouring South Kivu province after the

M23 advance into the provincial capital Bukavu over the weekend

led to clashes between Congolese forces and allied militias,

which wanted to stay and fight.



The escalation has alarmed the wider region and the

international community. On Thursday, the United States imposed

sanctions on a Rwandan government minister and a senior rebel

for their alleged role in the conflict.



Neighbouring Rwanda denies allegations from Congo and the

United Nations that it supports the M23 with arms and troops. It

says it is defending itself against Hutu militias which it

accuses of fighting alongside the Congolese military.



Congo rejects this and says Rwanda has used the M23 as a

proxy to loot its minerals such as gold and coltan, used in

smartphones and computers.



Congo's finance ministry on Thursday announced the launch of

a solidarity fund for the army that allows citizens, companies

and organisations to donate directly to the eastern war effort.



The initiative highlights the financial toll of the

three-year insurgency which has seen the M23 capture

unprecedented swathes of Congolese territory and valuable mining

areas, renewing a conflict over power, ethnic rivalry and

resources that dates back to the 1990s genocide in Rwanda.