Bomb blast at Kasese border linked to ADF

A statement released today Sunday 15 January by the DRC national army indicated that there was a bomb explosion in the eastern province of North Kivu, but didn’t state the number of causalities.

In the statement, the military spokesperson, Antony Mualushayi, said the terrorist act occurred in a Pentecostal Church in the town of Kasindi in North Kivu, which lies on the border with 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.

Details about the incident are still scanty, and the number of casualties isn’t yet known.

The ADF militia is known to be active in the Kasindi area.

The ADF has been severally accused of slaughtering innocent civilians and has been strongly condemned by the international community.

Earlier this week, former Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, whose role is to mediate the conflict in the eastern part of DRC, said M23 rebels had agreed to “continue an orderly withdrawal from the conquered territory in the restive east of DRC.”

The rebels allegedly made the assurances after meeting Kenyatta on Thursday.

 “In demonstration of goodwill and the willingness to work towards the settlement of the situation in North Kivu, the leaders of the M23 agreed to continue with an orderly withdrawal and to adhere to a strict ceasefire,” Kenyatta said in the statement after the meeting in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

He added: “They further agreed to continue to respect and cooperate with the East African Regional Force that has now begun to take control of the areas vacated by the M23.”

The Tutsi-led M23 has captured swathes of territory in North Kivu province in recent months and advanced towards its capital Goma. But under heavy international pressure, it pledged to retreat and last Friday it gave back a key Congolese army base just 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Goma.