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DRC’s army confirmed the withdrawal, calling it a tactical move to protect civilians in the face of renewed unrest provoked by the rebel fighters’ reinvigorated offensive.
The rebels took control of Kitshanga late Thursday after capturing several villages on the road linking the town of about 60,000 people to the provincial capital Goma.
Heavy fighting erupted between government forces and M23 rebels on Tuesday morning in the eastern North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials and residents said.
“Intense fighting broke out at around 5 a.m. local time (0300GMT) in several areas in Masisi and Rutshuru, near Kitshanga town,” Georges Bushu Bishye, vice-president of the area’s local peace and development committee, told Anadolu.
The National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA] in coordination with the Somali National Army [SNA] eliminated over 40 Al-Shabaab militants, state media reported, in the latest operation targeting the militants, who have been engaging in retaliatory attacks across the country.
According to state media, the operation by the multi-agency security forces targeted the militants across Farabaako area, just south of Xawaadley in central Somalia. The operation was activated a day after Tuesday’s attack against civilians in the village, a move which was seen as a provocation.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and two groups, signatories to the Juba peace agreement, formed a joint force to restore security in the troubled region, a spokesperson told Sudan Tribune on Monday.
Ahmed Hussein Mustafa, military spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army, led by Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) told Sudan Tribune that his group and the Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces (GSLF) of Tahir Hajar a member of the Sovereign Council, have formed a protection force in Darfur with the RSF.
Cameroon’s military announces it deployed scores of troops to three districts on Monday January 2 in the central African state’s English-speaking Northwest region to deal with an increased violence by armed gangs.
The military says armed gangs in Oku, Kumbo and Kakiri districts over the weekend sealed markets, chased people and vehicles from the streets and abducted scores of civilians who did not comply with their orders. There were reports of armed men belonging to the separatists, who call themselves Ambazonians or Amba, seizing motorcycles from taxi drivers and pointing guns at them.