PRETORIA, February 16. /TASS/. Extra units of the Rwanda-backed rebel March 23 Movement (M23) have been deployed to the city of Bukavu in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Okapi radio station reported.
According to the radio station, convoys of heavily armed soldiers entered Bukavu, the capital city of the South Kivu province, from the north. They took strategic positions in the city streets and squares. The situation in the city is tens, with shops and pharmacies being closed out of fear of lootings. South Kivu governor, Jean-Jacques Purusi, has confirmed that the city is controlled by the rebels.
The regular army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has withdrawn from Bukavu. Lots of weapons are seen scattered in the city streets, Okapi said.
According to the RDC Times news portal, government troops left Bukavu without a fight and are moving southwards to the city of Uvira near the border with Burundi. Some Congolese soldiers reportedly fled Bukavu by boats. It is not yet clear where the Burundian contingent of up to 10,000 that was deployed northwest of Bukavu at the invitation of the Congolese government is currently staying.
M23 units entered Bukavu late on February 14. According to the Okapi radio stations, after government forces and militia units left the city, it was taken by the rebels without any resistance.
Bukavu's population exceeds one million. About a million more people live in camps for displaced persons and refugees in its suburbs. At the end of January, M23 rebels captured the city of Goma, the administrative center of the neighboring province of North Kivu.