Ceasefire agreement signed and broken in Bukavu

A ceasefire signed by rival army groups under the aegis of the Mission of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) in the eastern town of Bukavu was broken on Wednesday morning, MONUC reported.

The accord had been signed by Gen Mbuza Mabe, the commander of the 10th Military Region of the DRC army, who is responsible for Bukavu, and dissidents of the same army who were members of a faction of the former rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Goma. Gen Laurent Nkunda and Col Jules Mutebusi lead the dissidents.

According to the MONUC chief of staff, Col Clive Mantell, "Nkunda’s men broke the ceasefire this morning [at a point] 15 km north of Bukavu, and are marching towards the town, which is under the control of government forces". Nkunda had claimed that he controlled Bukavu.

The ongoing insecurity has prompted 550 civilians to seek refuge within the MONUC headquarters, where they are receiving food and water.

"There is a lot of confusion right now, the insurgents are entering the town, the government troops are fleeing, and the town is being looted," Lucia Alberghini, the representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Bukavu, said on Wednesday afternoon.

An emergency task force comprising various UN agencies operating in the sector was established a few days ago. Power, which had been cut, had been restored in parts of the city, and hospitals were still operating, according to Alberghini. However, insecurity was impeding the assessment of humanitarian needs, and the insurgents’ advance was preventing the population from gaining access to humanitarian assistance.

Another 10 people had been wounded, bringing to 103 the number of people wounded since the fighting started a week ago, according to the DRC Red Cross. On Monday, it reported a total of 39 deaths - 18 civilians and 21 soldiers.

Mutebusi, the former second-in-command of the 10th Military Region, leads the dissidents. They have been reinforced by troops from Goma, about 100 km northeast of Bukavu, led by Nkunda. Both claim to be defending members of their Banyamulenge ethnic group - Congolese of Tutsi origin - who, they say, have been the target of violence. They estimate that more than 2,000 Banyamulenge have crossed the border to seek refuge in Rwanda since the fighting first flared up.

The ceasefire agreement had been concluded to allow for an international investigation into the alleged abuses suffered by the Banyamulenge people.

In a statement released in the capital, Kinshasa, the command of the DRC army had given assurances that the Banyamulenge were guaranteed army protection on an equal footing with all other ethnic groups in the DRC.