‘Living in fear’ in relentless battle for east DR Congo

Innocent Kasereka sits in a rundown hospital in war-torn eastern DRC, bandaged where his neck was brutally slashed.

The 30-year-old recounts how he became caught in the middle of the conflict raging between rebels of the M23 and Congolese armed forces since late 2021. “When the M23 arrived in Kibirizi they held a meeting and assured us that we were safe,” Kasereka said, forlornly, in the hospital director’s office.Instead, he said he was attacked by people “in M23 uniform”. Bloodied and traumatised, he managed to climb a hill to safety in a government-held part of the town.The Congolese army backed by a rag-tag collection of armed groups known as Wazalendo — Swahili for Patriots — launched an offensive to retake Kibirizi from the M23 at the end of April.

In 2022, more than 100 people were killed for the same reason in Kishishe, a town some 10 kilometres from Kibirizi.Kasereka has been recovering for around 10 days at a hospital in the town of Kanyabayonga, about 10km from where he was attacked.In the bed next to him, an 18-year-old fighter, also named Germain, lies in dirty bedsheets with bandages around his wounded arm.

For almost two years, the FARDC and Wazalendo have not seen a single victory, as the M23 continues its advance in North Kivu province.

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