M23 rebels retreat from occupied territory

(23 Dec 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kibumba, Democratic Republic of Congo - 23 December 2022
1. Various of M23 rebel forces leaving the Kibumba area
2. M23 soldier in grass
3. M23 soldiers
4. M23 soldiers on trucks
5. M23 soldiers
6. Line of trucks bringing East African Community (EAC) forces
7. M23 soldier with machine gun
8. Close of M23 fighter with rocket propelled grenade
9. Various of EAC forces commander walking with troops
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Imani Nzenze John, M23 rebel movement spokesperson:
++AUDIO FOLLOWED WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION++
“This is a sign of goodwill that the M23 will make today, it is in the name of peace and is part of the recommendations of the mini summit of heads of state held in November, in Angola, in July 2022.”
11. M23 soldier with radio
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Imani Nzenze John, M23 rebel movement spokesperson:
“We hope that Kinshasa will take advantage of this occasion with both hands and that it will also work to bring peace to our country.”
13. Wide of EAC and M23 troops at news briefing
14. Close of EAC badge on soldier's sleeve
15. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Jeff Nyagah, Commander of East African Community regional force:
“I would like to highlight that anyone who attacks the population in all the areas we control, he will face our strength and we will not accept killings, rapes of mothers, it is not possible and it will not be possible. We will do everything to ensure that the population lives in peace, all the inhabitants who will return here will be protected."
16. Various of Kenyan EAC forces on guard
STORYLINE:
Eastern Congo's M23 rebels retreated Friday from some of the territory it held, the group's first withdrawal since it began seizing swaths of land more than a year ago.

The rebels left the Kibumba area and its positions were taken over by the East African Regional Force — a multinational force charged with protecting the area.

This retreat is in line with an agreement made last month at a summit in Angola, an M23 spokesman said in a statement.

Kibumba, in the Nyiragongo territory of Congo's North Kivu province, has been held by the M23 since November and it was the closest that the rebels got to Goma, eastern Congo's regional capital.

Speaking to reporters in Kibumba on Friday, Gen. Jeff Nyagah, a commander of the EAC regional force, called on the civilian population to return home promising that they would be safe.

"We will do everything to ensure that the population lives in peace, all the inhabitants who will return here will be protected," Nyagah said.

The M23 rebels are largely Congolese ethnic Tutsis who became prominent 10 years ago when their fighters seized Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city on the border with Rwanda.

The group derives its name from a March 23, 2009, peace deal, which it accuses the Congo government of not implementing. The group has been largely dormant for nearly a decade.

Since resurfacing more than a year ago, the M23 have been accused of killing civilians and seizing land in eastern Congo’s Rutshuru territory.

Earlier this month the United Nations accused the rebels of being responsible for massacring more than 130 civilians in two villages.

The group is believed to be receiving weapons and troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to a report by U.N. experts.

AP Video shot by Justin Kabumba

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