DRC troops step up offensive against M23
A Congolese army tank fires a shell towards an M23 position in Kanyarucinya, around 10km north of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday. PHOTO | AFP
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Exchanges of automatic weapons fire grew heavier in the late afternoon, suggesting that army soldiers were unleashing a ground offensive.
GOMA, Thursday. The Congolese army on Wednesday stepped up an offensive against M23 rebels in the country’s volatile east, shelling positions north of the flashpoint city of Goma.
Backed by tanks, mortars and heavy machine guns mounted on gun carriages, the regular soldiers pounded M23 positions on the hills overlooking Kanyarucinya and Kibati in the restive east of the country. As on Tuesday, three army helicopters also targeted rebel positions, an AFP photographer said.
Exchanges of automatic weapons fire grew heavier in the late afternoon, suggesting that army soldiers were unleashing a ground offensive.
The deadliest clashes in months in the mineral-rich region broke out on Sunday, with at least 130 people killed including 10 soldiers, according to a toll given by the DR Congo army on Monday.
The M23 is an armed group launched by Tutsi former soldiers who mutinied from the Congolese army in 2012 and occupied the flashpoint city of Goma for 10 days in November before withdrawing under international pressure.
