FARDC in disarray: Bunagana falls to M23, Radio Okapi reports

Radio Okapi reports today that M23 retook Bunagana (North Kivu),

seized by the FARDC by the end of May.





(Page Address: http://radiookapi.net/actualite/2012/07/06/nord-kivu-les-rebelles-du-m23-auraient-repris-le-controle-de-la-cite-de-bunangana/)





The FARDC are alleged to have abandoned the town late last night after

ferocious multi-pronged attacks mounted by M23.





The M23 have by the same token taken control of the border post with

Rwanda and alleged to be asking refugees who've fled to Rwanda to

return home.





Radio Okapi also reports that there were sightings of fleeing FARDC

troops in refugee camps in Uganda.





In the meantime in Kinshasa, the media are reporting the presence of

Rwandan troops fighting alongside M23.





Misidentifying the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) as the Rwandan

Patriotic Army (RPA), L'Avenir publishes today an article titled

"DRC-Rwanda: The RPA on the battlefield alongside Bosco Ntaganda's

band."





L'Avenir claims that "Rwandan aggression is now confirmed ... in the

lightning attack of Rwandan troops to take control of Buganana."







L'Avenir adds that the attack "was repelled by the valiant FARDC

troops, with the backing of MONUSCO."





And by the way, have MONUSCO troops also disengaged from their

positions in Buganana?





Meanwhile, reporter Eric Kabeera of the Kigali-based New Times reports

today that the number of Congolese refugees in Rwanda has hit the

18,000 mark, many of them sheltered at Nkamira Transit Centre, in

Rubavu District, in Western Province.





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PHOTO: MONUSCO troops in the Kivus



PHOTO CREDITS: monusco.unmissions.org