FRN advances 50 km in eastern DR Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on SeneNews
The anti-government armed group FRN, formerly M23, has launched an offensive and advanced several dozen kilometres in eastern DR Congo, according to local and security sources cited by AFP. The advance comes after several months of front-line stabilisation under a peace agreement.
The Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), an anti-government armed group originating from the former M23, has advanced about 50 kilometres in South Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), during an offensive launched overnight from Friday to Saturday. The advance was reported on Monday 9 November by local and security sources to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The fighters advanced along National Road 3 (RN3), heading north-west towards Walikale, a town in the neighbouring province of North Kivu. The advance comes after several months of stabilisation of the front lines, following the peace agreement concluded in December between DR Congo and Rwanda under US auspices. Washington subsequently sanctioned the Rwandan army and several senior officials in the country for their support for M23.
In mid-October, the movement's leaders renamed their organisation the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation and appointed former Congolese president Joseph Kabila, who was in power from 2001 to 2019, as its head. The group says it wants to overthrow President Félix Tshisekedi.
This new offensive is part of the resumption of fighting between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the FRN, already reported on 3 November in Masisi. It also comes after the FRN took control of Bulambika in South Kivu, announced on 8 November, followed by Bunyakiri and Bulambika, reported on 9 November.
