Hundreds of protestors stormed streets of Butembo the main commercial city in eastern Congo demanding that the Ugandan troops stay in Butembo.
It is alleged that troops of the Uganda Peoples Defence Force are considering to leave Lubero (North Kivu). According to war strategists, Lubero is the M23’s forward line in the Far North.
There was no fighting on Tuesday although shops and stores remained closed, including banks and other microfinance institutions.
“If the M23 did not advance towards Butembo, it is because the Ugandan military intervened in Lubero,” noted Tambwe Mulombo a resident of Lubero.
Kasma Maghetsi,one of the organizers of these demonstrations in support of the UPDF said, “It’s not that we have placed all our trust in a foreign army. we need the UPDF to remain in Lubero to spare Butembo from the entry of the M23.”
“We would like to pressure the Congolese authorities to keep the UPDF at its Lubero base while our government organizes the troops at the front lines. Our Congolese soldiers are capable, but discipline and organization are needed,” Kasma added.
Ugandan soldiers are also deployed in the Manguredjipa region, 100 km west of Butembo, where a group of ADF Islamists has entrenched themselves. Withdrawing from Lubero to focus on tracking down the ADF is therefore not synonymous with a total withdrawal from Lubero, but rather only from the M23 front.
