23,000 people are fleeing violence in north-east DR Congo

The Congolese army officially defeated the rebels in the northeast of the country in 2013. However, fighting between government troops and rebel groups has flared up again since March.

Fighting between rebel groups and the Congolese army keeps flaring up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Djaffar Sabiti / Reuters

(dpa)

Around 23,000 people have fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo after renewed fighting broke out between rebels and the Congolese army in the north-east of the country. Around 2,500 people have left the DR Congo for Uganda since the outbreak of violence on Thursday, the UN emergency aid office for the Congo wrote on Twitter on Sunday evening.

Since March, 186,000 people have been displaced as a result of fighting between the M-23 rebel group and the Congolese army. According to information from the United Nations, the M-23 rebels are supported by neighboring Rwanda.

The Rutshuru region in North Kivu province, bordering Rwanda and Uganda, is rich in mineral resources. According to the United States, around 130 armed rebel groups are active there. The DR Congo with its approximately 90 million inhabitants has, among other things, copper, cobalt, gold and diamonds.

The Congolese army defeated the M-23 rebels in 2013. Since the end of March, however, the rebel movement has been attacking civilians and military installations again in eastern DR Congo, as well as fighting with the Congolese army.

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