Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Congo Rebels, After Giving Up Struggle, Are Disarmed

Congolese soldiers gathered for a military briefing near Goma this week after a group of M23 rebel fighters surrendered.Credit...Kenny Katombe/Reuters

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Ugandan military has begun the process of disarming large numbers of rebels from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, a military spokesman said Thursday.

The rebel group, known as M23, announced Tuesday that it was giving up its armed struggle, marking a significant turning point in the 20-month conflict that had brought renewed violence to eastern Congo. The decision came after more than a week of rapid advances by the Congolese Army, supported by United Nations forces, which drove M23 out of territory it had controlled for more than a year.

Capt. Ronald Kakurungu, military spokesman for the western region of Uganda, said that 1,365 members of M23 had surrendered to Ugandan forces. “We are receiving and disarming them,” he said. The surrenders were a sign that the group was carrying out its stated position to end its violent rebellion and demobilize its fighters.

“They came with a big number of weapons, but we are still counting them and categorizing them,” Captain Kakurungu said. “Everybody had a weapon.”

There were some news reports that the group’s military commander, Gen. Sultani Makenga, was among those who had crossed into Uganda and turned themselves in to the authorities there, including one account that he had surrendered on Wednesday and was being held along with other rebel commanders.

But two spokesmen for the Ugandan military said he had not been seen among the surrendering troops. Beyond that, a man claiming to be General Makenga, reached on a Congolese cellphone belonging to him, called news of his surrender “false reports” and “rumors,” saying that he was still in Congo.

United Nations experts have accused Uganda of helping to support the M23 revolt in its vast, mineral-rich neighbor. The Ugandan government has strongly denied those claims. The Ugandan capital, Kampala, has hosted peace talks between the Congolese government and M23.

The rebel group’s last major stronghold, Bunagana, was on the border between Congo and Uganda. The United Nations reported on Tuesday that 10,000 people had fled the fighting into Uganda.

“There are justifiable fears that there will be reprisal attacks on M23 and those who supported them,” said Timo Mueller, field researcher in eastern Congo for the Enough Project.

The Ugandans said they planned to move M23 soldiers farther from the scene of the conflict. “We will relocate them to an area south of where they are now because it is not safe to keep them at the border,” Captain Kakurungu said.

The end of the M23 rebellion does not spell the end of fighting in eastern Congo. Dozens of armed groups are operating in the region, and new revolts have sprung up in the wake of those that have been suppressed or settled.

“It only takes in eastern Congo a small batch of rebels that are resilient and can live off the forest to exert damage on the local population,” Mr. Mueller said.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: Congo Rebels, After Giving Up Struggle, Are Disarmed. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT