Local sources have confirmed that rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday declared the reopening of a border post between the DRC and Uganda that they had taken on June 13, as fighting raged further west.
The M23 rebel group, which Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting, has heightened tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its eastern neighbour Rwanda in recent weeks.
‘Today we proceeded to open the border at the Bunagana border post,’ M23 spokesman Willy Ngoma said in a video sent to the press, standing outside the immigration services building on the Congolese side of the frontier.
‘As you can see, people are starting to come back… they have to go back so that the children can go to school,’ he said.
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“Yes, the M23 has just opened the border… but some of the people crossing are coming to pick up some things and then return to Uganda,” said Damien Sebusanane, a local civil society leader.
A primarily Congolese Tutsi militia that is one of scores of armed groups in eastern DRC, the M23 leapt to global prominence in 2012 when it captured Goma.
It was forced out shortly afterward in a joint offensive by UN troops and the Congolese army.
But the militia has recently made a comeback, clashing with Congolese troops in violence that has inflamed tensions in Central Africa.
Since the end of March, when the M23 fought the Congolese army in Rutshuru, thousands of people have fled to Uganda.
Bunagana is a major trading and transit centre for goods, where thousands of dollars a week in taxes and customs duties are handled.
The reopening of the border at Bunagana does not mean that vehicles can again travel by road to Goma, the capital of Nord-Kivu province.
The front line is near, with the DRC army stationed at the Rwanguba bridge, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the border.
Fighting has also been reported since Sunday evening further inside DRC territory, towards Bikenke.