The battle hardened M23 fighters on Friday captured Bukavu city of South Kivu Province after seizing the strategic Kavumu airport earlier on Thursday effectively expanding the territory under their control stretching from North Kivu.
The heavily armed fighters with high levels of discipline walked in columns on the streets of Bukavu as residents cheered and waved at them.
The FARDC soldiers were seen fleeing with heavy military equipment which had been stationed at Kavumu airport and other military bases.
Currently the fighters control Bunagana city neighbouring Uganda, they also since last week control Goma city the capital of the Northern province after which they marched southwards to Bukavu.
The rebels overpowered Congolese forces to take Kavumu airport, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the city of Bukavu in South Kivu province.
Kavumu airport held Congolese army aircraft and was one of the last major runways for large planes in the region.
Sources have told Taarifa M23 fighters are now in two territories of the South Kivu province, including; Kalehe and Kabare, where they now occupy the locality of Kabamba and the city of Katana. Two important entities seven kilometers apart.
Kabamba, bordering the territory of Kalehe, came under rebel control after fighting that continued late into the night on Thursday, before the FARDC troops withdrew to initially retreat to Katana.
“It was this morning around 7:00 a.m. that we learned that Kabamba had fallen. And around 9:00 a.m., Katana also fell. There has not been a meeting yet, they are telling people to go about their business. There was fighting in Kabamba, there was also fighting in Katana, but it did not last long. The army has retreated to Kavumu at the airport,” a source said.
Authorities in Kinshasa have remained tight-lipped about the M23 advances on Bukavu. “On instructions from the authorities above, the army will communicate in due time.”
