Inter-rebel squabble leaves at least one dead in Uvira

At least one Congolese rebel soldier was killed and four others wounded in a clash between different factions of the Rassemblement congolaise pour la democratie (RCD) in Uvira last weekend, according to reports reaching IRIN from numerous sources. According to the local NGO Groupe Milima the trouble started after a Rwandan army commander, Colonel Dan Gapfizi, and several of the men under his command tried to arrest four army officials from the Banyamulenge Tutsi group within the RCD. It is not clear whether the four are currently detained in the prison in Uvira which is guarded by units loyal to Gapfizi or if they were released following the clash.

Sources close to the rebel movement say the RCD is keen on moving many of the Banyamulenge elements out of their home area of South Kivu and replacing them with other units following reports of massacres of civilians in Makobola about 15-20 km south of Uvira. Initial reports by the Catholic Missionary Network said some 500 people had been killed by rampaging RCD forces after an attack by Mayi Mayi. Sources close to an RCD investigation into the alleged massacre say the figure was much lower, but unofficially admit that RCD forces, mainly made up of Banyamulenge, had been “too vigorous” in their reponse to the incursion by a mixed FDD/Interahamwe/Mayi Mayi group.

One Banyamulenge rebel quoted by the Kinyarwanda service of the Voice of America radio confirmed the clash. “It is unbelievable. Our allies in the Rwandan army want to move us by force to an unknown destination. Certainly, they want to move us out of Uvira, where the men of Gapfizi’s command mistreat the local population. That is something we do not want,” he said.