M23 Rebel Group Announces Withdrawal From Villages Captured In Eastern DRC

M23 rebel group on Sunday announced its withdrawal from villages captured in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following clashes with government troops in the Rutshuru region last week, reported AllAfrica.

According to local sources, the fighting between the rebels and soldiers began on Wednesday and the M23 rebels gained control of around a dozen villages in Rutshuru territory in North Kivu province. The earlier clashes had already forced tens of thousands of people to flee the region.

The militant group said in a statement that it took the “decision to withdraw, once more, from its newly-won positions… to allow for its concerns to be addressed through open and fruitful dialogue with the government” of DR Congo.

In the statement, the rebel group added that it never had the intention to capture areas to run them, but, its only motivation was to get a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

The M23 also said it will hand over all the soldiers from the national army who were captured on the frontline to the International Committee of the Red Cross for proper care.

The M23 was born out of former members of a Congolese Tutsi militia that was once supported by Rwanda and Uganda. The rebels group members were incorporated into the Congolese army under a peace deal signed on March 23, 2009.

The rebels mutinied in 2012, saying the deal had not been upheld, and named their group the March 23 (M23) Movement. The rebel group briefly seized the city of Goma before being defeated and forced out of the country. After its defeat, the rebel group eventually signed an accord with Kinshasa that included provisions for its members to reintegrate into civilian society.

But the group has once again accused the DRC government of reneging on the deal and resumed fighting last year. Their latest offensive began in late March.