North Kivu Gov curbs border crossings as M23 metastasizes into Revolutionary Army of Congo

(PHOTO 1: Goma resident wounded by grenade blast, Monday, October 8)



(PHOTO 2: Nganda Nova, Goma, Saturday, October 13, 7:15 p.m. Not one

single beer sold that evening)



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According to AFP and newswires, M23 metastasized this past Sunday into

what its spokesperson, self-anointed "bishop" Jean-Marie Runiga,

dubbed the Revolutiomary Army of the Congo.



Runiga was making this statement at the border crossing city of

Bunagana, upon returning from Uganda where he was in consultation with

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the so-called "mediator" of the

North Kivu armed conflict.



But, as it turns out, Uganda has just been charged by a UN Report as

another enabler of M23 qua Revolutionary Army of Congo.



Runiga added:



"We are witnessing the reinforcement of military positions of the

FARDC on the frontline where the FDLR and the FARDC are gearing up for

what they call the final assault on our positions."



Runiga vowed that the insurgents will defend themselves and repel any

assault against their positions.



The claim that the FARDC gang up with the FDLR figures in the long

worn-out Rwanda's talking points to justify its repeated aggression of

the DRC.



In the meanwhile, insecurity and paranoia have become bywords for the

city of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu Province.



Blogger-journalist Charly Kasereka chronicles this deleterious climate

in the besieged city on his blog Actu du Kivu.



The most recent worrisome development, reports Kasereka, are grenade attacks.



Typically, still according to Charly Kasereka, those grenades are set

up as booby traps in the streets or as drive-by attacks whereby

grenades are thrown into the crowds from speeding

motorcycles--obtaining scores of civilian casualties.



The use of motorcycles in those attacks has led city and provincial

authorities to decree citywide ban on motorcycle rides after 7 p.m.

But as motorcycles-taxis are the only means of transportation for

Gomatracians--or Goma residents--this ban has in effect "killed"

nightlife in Goma.



Nightclub owners and street walkers have even threatened to

demonstrate to vent their displeasure.



And, to make matters worse, North Kivu Governor decided on Sunday,

October 21, to shut down the border crossing between Goma and the

Rwandan city of Gisenyi from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., "pursuant to the

[central] government orders dated October 19, 2012."



The two border crossings at Goma--known as "La Petite Barrière" and

"La Grande Barrière"--have been "experimentally" operating on a 24/7

basis.



Strangely, insecurity is also prevalent in some quarters of the slums

of Kinshasa, where machete-wielding "kulunas" are mugging residents,

at times in broad daylight.



Two days ago, I went out for dinner with friends in downtown Kinshasa.

At around 8 p.m., I got a call from family members frantically

advising that I spend the night at my friend's downtown as "kulunas"

have stormed my neighborhood.



--(With AFP, radiookapi.net, actudukivu.blogspot.com, & newswires)--



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PHOTO CREDITS: Charly Kasereka

Via: actudukivu.blogspot.com