Refugees continued to cross over to Rwanda on Tuesday.
Tuesday, and the residents of Rubavu, two kilometres from Rwanda’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), woke up to a rainy thunderous dawn. The thunder was not just from the heavens, artillery noise tried to compete with nature’s own rumble.
Rwandans are early risers, and in a town like Rubavu, rain notwithstanding, the streets would be a hive of activity, from early morning. Today however, even the market was closed. But where people were trickling back, normalcy reasserted itself, even though artillery sounds could still be heard, louder than thunder.
Forty-eight hours earlier, the M23/AFC (Congo River Alliance) rebels, had issued an ultimatum to government forces in the city of Goma, a half hour drive away from Rubavu, to lay down their arms.
“The Congo River Alliance/M23 calls on all members of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo…present in Goma and its surroundings to lay down their weapons within 48 hours. The city of Goma must never be used as a battlefield, and our organisation will not tolerate any armed group engaging in conflict against the civilian population” read a statement.
They were true to their word, beginning to move on Goma, as soon as the forty-eighty hours had elapsed. The Congolese armed forces (FARDC) , too, lived up to their reputation. According to eyewitnesses, now pouring into Rwanda, fleeing the conflict, the FARDC, lost no opportunity to unleash chaos.
More Congolese nationals arriving in Rwanda.
“They were breaking into houses, stealing, looting, shops” said one refugee, who did not want to be named. “They were firing just for firing, in any direction. And everyone found a gun, even little kids, they could get them very cheaply from FARDC…”
Outside Goma, FARDC, and its coalition of Western mercenaries, disparate armed groups, now under the banner of “Wazalendo,” the Rwandan so-called Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), SADC (Southern African Development Community) forces and assorted Western mercenaries, were turning their guns not on M23 rebels, but against Rwanda.
Throughout Monday, no sound in Rubavu could be heard above artillery and high calibre machine fire. But for defensive measures by the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF), Rubavu would almost certainly be mourning many of its citizens, and coming to terms with extensive damage. The RDF managed to explode in the air, many of the shells that were intended to land on Rubavu. Some did get through, leaving five people dead, and thirty injured.
Read, watch or listen to any Western news outlet, and you would be forgiven for thinking that there is a war between Rwanda and the DRC, with Rwanda as the aggressor.
Get anywhere near the Rwanda-DRC border however, as many of these news organisation’s representatives have done, and the self evident fact is that Rwanda’s armed forces is on full alert to defend Rwandan territory, while the DRC armed coalition retreats from M23/AFC rebels, shaking their fists at Rwanda, as they run, or hoist up white flags.
“We want to reiterate to Rwandans that the RDF is doing everything possible, to ensure their safety,” said RDF spokesperson, Brigadier-General Ronald Rwivanga.
The situation is still tense in Rubavu and Goma.
Few governments in the world enjoy a closer relationship between government and governed than the Rwanda government does. Despite the understandable panic and fear, caused by the attacks, people were quickly reassured by the government’s message, that their safety was paramount and nothing would be allowed to threaten it. They had slowly begun to fill their city again, in spite of the continued shelling.
“Starting Sunday, things were very serious, very dangerous” said Emile Mugisha, a guide at Rubavu but terminus, “but we are very well here, we are well protected, people are coming and going as normal, our safety is guaranteed.”
Although quieter than it normally would be, Rubavu is slowly returning to its normal peaceful self. There are more police on the streets than usual, but their demeanour is such that it is difficult to think that they are protecting people from a potentially deadly attack.
Only the increased number of ambulances, ready to ferry any injured to the nearest health centres, and the steady stream refugees flowing from the direction of the DRC frontier, remind the observer that the extra police are there for a more grave reason than perhaps crowd control.
M23’s Major Willy Ngoma at the border with Rwanda, after the rebels fled truck drivers and foreign citizens who were stranded in Goma.
FDLR Wazalendo militias who surrendered.
