Fear In DRC Congo As Bomb Blast Making Displacement Of People

DRC Congo's army said on Sunday that an explosive device had detonated in a church in North Kivu province, without giving details about the number of casualties.

In a statement sent to reporters, military spokesman Antony Mualushayi said that the "terrorist act" occurred in a pentecostal church in the town of Kasindi in North Kivu, which lies on the border with neighbouring Uganda.

"The security services have already taken control of the place and the injured have been evacuated to local health facilities," Mualushayi said, adding that an investigation was underway.

The group — one of scores in the volatile region — has conquered swathes of territory from the army and allied militias in North Kivu province in recent months and advanced towards its capital Goma.

It delivered the strategic town of Kibumba to a regional military force last week after heavy international pressure to cease fighting, saying the move was a “goodwill gesture done in the name of peace”.

Persistent fighting in the east of the mineral-rich DRC pits federal troops against rebels from the M23 group, which has captured swaths of territory.

The DRC, along with the United States and several European countries, has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing the Tutsi-led rebels from M23, although Kigali denies the charge.

“We cannot keep hosting refugees” from DR Congo, President Paul Kagame told the upper house of parliament in the capital Kigali on Monday. “This is not Rwanda’s problem. And we are going to ensure that everybody realises that it is not Rwanda’s problem.

“I am refusing that Rwanda should carry this burden.”In November, the UN said about 72,000 Congolese refugees had crossed into Rwanda.

Content created and supplied by: Manabo (via Opera News )