The DRC army says it is taking Kalembe back from M23, but the rebels deny it

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army said on Tuesday it had recaptured the eastern town of Kalembe, a day after it was captured by M23 rebels, but the rebels said they were still in control of the town.

Kalembe, a small town in the Walikale area of ​​militia-ridden North Kivu, came under M23 control on Sunday morning when rebels seized it from Congolese forces and pro-government armed groups.

The Tutsi-led group M23 has been waging a renewed uprising in the east of the Central African country since 2022. Congo and the United Nations accuse neighboring Rwanda of supporting the group with its own troops and weapons. Rwanda denies this.

Congolese army spokesman Sylvain Ekenge said Kalembe was taken back on Monday. But Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which also includes M23, said the rebels were still in power.

Ekenge said fighting was ongoing between the pro-government militia and the M23 in areas not under army control.

Military troops were flown in by helicopters on Monday morning to deal with the situation, he said.

The M23 raid on Kalembe was a violation of an Angola-brokered ceasefire agreed in August, the Angolan government said on Monday.

An official from Walikale area, Kabaki Alimasi, confirmed that the army had taken back the town but said fighting continued nearby.

“The M23 isn’t far away,” he said. “We can hear gunshots, the population who fled has not yet returned.”

The uprising in Congo’s mineral-rich east has deepened the humanitarian crisis in North Kivu, where the United Nations said some 2.6 million people were displaced by the end of September.