South Kivu: General Nzabampema denies having been dislodged from his strategic positions

On Monday, the Burundian rebel leader denied reports that the Burundian and Congolese armies killed 40 of his fighters during recent fighting in South Kivu (Eastern DRC). He claims to have lost only 3 men. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

In an interview to our reporters, General Aloys Nzabampema specified that “the Burundian and Congolese soldiers are in Namaramara. The fighting is continuing on Monday”.

“I lost three combatants and killed thirty soldiers of the Coalition of the Congolese and Burundian armies including two senior officers of the rank of major”.

This Sunday, a spokesperson for the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) in South Kivu said that the FARDC-FDNB Coalition (Burundi National Defense Force) “killed 40 rebels of ousted General Aloys Nzabampema ” and dislodged his movement, the FNL (National Liberation Forces) from the localities of Namaramara and Naombi, which is “the command post and logistics base of Nzabampema”, according to a statement from the Congolese army.

The Burundian rebel leader also said he seized several weapons and ammunition. The Burundian army, long accused of entering Congolese soil illegally, entered officially in mid-August this year. It deployed as part of the regional force decided by the EAC Heads of State at the end of June this year and is present in South Kivu.

Only Rwanda, accused by the Congolese authorities of supporting the M23 rebels, an armed group made up of Congolese Tutsis who took up arms at the end of 2021, will not send troops in this context aimed at stabilizing eastern DRC. Five provinces in the east of the vast country of Central Africa will host soldiers from the countries of the East African community that Congo recently joined.

They will have to collaborate with the Congolese army to fight the local and foreign armed groups that have been swarming in this part of the Congo for nearly three decades.