DR Congo rebels advance 50 km in east, sources say

Armed anti-government fighters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo advanced about 50 kilometres after launching an offensive in South Kivu province, local and security sources said Monday.

The fighters, from the movement formerly known as M23 and renamed the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation last month, launched the offensive on Friday night. The sources said they moved along a main road headed northwest towards the strategic town of Walikale but had not reached it.

They crossed Kahuzi-Biega national park and took control of several towns, including Bunyakiri, the sources said. Major Dieudonne Kasereka, a local army spokesman, said Kambali, several kilometres beyond Bunyakiri, was already under enemy occupation, while Kambegete remained under Congolese army control.

Kasereka said government forces were carrying out a counteroffensive in Kambali. A civil society representative, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many residents had fled to government-controlled areas and that much of the population had stayed locked in their homes.

The front lines in the region had been relatively stable since a US-brokered peace deal between the DRC and Rwanda was signed in December. Washington has imposed sanctions on Rwanda's defence ministry and a financial institution over their alleged ties to the M23 armed group.

Walikale is about 140 kilometres from Bunyakiri and is a strategic road junction leading west. It is also one of the main bases of the Congolese army in North Kivu province.