The bodies of the two Congolese government soldiers were displayed like trophies, laid out across the road at midday after a long night of fighting between Congolese government troops and the rebels loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda.
Several metres away, a group of 15 bedraggled soldiers loyal to Nkunda stood in the bush, surveying the effect of their de facto roadblock on passing civilians and international journalists.
This is Kibati, the front line this week in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where fighting continues despite international appeals for a ceasefire and a negotiated resolution to a conflict which has displaced several hundred thousand people in the past three months.
Were it not for the two bodies lying across the road, it would be hard to gauge where the front line lies. The soldiers on both sides wear similar, undistinguished uniforms. Many are young and bedraggled-looking, listlessly dragging their AK-47s and RPGs at their sides.
Two hundred metres around a bend in the road on the way to the provincial capital Goma, government soldiers lie by the roadside waiting for something to happen. They look demoralised and scared. So far, they have lost nearly every recent battle against Nkunda’s men, who are estimated to number between 4 000 and 6 000. They gesture angrily as I pass by on my way into the territory controlled by their enemies. The road along the way is littered with spent shell casings and the debris left behind by hastily disbanding forces.
Last week, as Nkunda’s troops threatened to capture Goma before declaring a unilateral ceasefire, Congolese government troops fled en masse, but not before killing a number of civilians and causing panic in the town.
Their reputation as a poor fighting force is not lost on Nkunda’s soldiers.
When asked what they will do if the Congolese army attacks, the men standing near the soldiers’ bodies told the Mail & Guardian: ”If they want, they can come, we will beat them, as always. That is what we are waiting for.” There is a collective chuckle when the Congolese army’s capacity to beat them is raised.
Despite the tense atmosphere and both sides’ increasingly threatening tones, life continues more or less as normal on both sides of the front line; people here are used to war. In the town of Kibumba, which has been under Nkunda’s control for the past few weeks, the market is bursting with carrots, artichokes and cabbages. This is fertile land and food should be abundant.
Julienne (14) lives in the town of Rumangabo, which lies 20km north. She has travelled to Kibumba to buy potatoes. ”There is no food in Rumangabo.”
Several metres down the road, dozens of trucks carrying produce, supplies and people are piled up behind a roadblock controlled by Nkunda’s soldiers. Nkunda is striving to set up an administration in the areas under his control and announced this week the formation of a 12-person government. His forces now control two of the five districts that make up the province of North Kivu. But he remains deeply unpopular, not least because people blame him for perpetuating the cycle of war.
It is difficult to get a sense of how the people in Kibumba feel about all of this, as I am under the watchful eye of Nkunda’s troops as I wander about the town. To the naked eye, it looks like just another ordinary day; I watch as a soldier gets a haircut in a small, dark, makeshift structure while another has a tear in his camouflage hat stitched up by a roadside tailor.
But there is evidence of coercion. Two civilians pushing a wooden bike, heavily laden with sacks of potatoes, are trailed by four soldiers shouting orders loudly at them.
Amid the market bustle a man stands listening to Radio Okapi, the UN radio station. The news bulletin reports that uncontrolled pro-Nkunda soldiers are harassing people in the town of Kibumba. The man looks around, quickly turns off his radio and wanders off.
The reality is that any armed group — whether the government army, Nkunda’s troops, or any of the other armed groups that operate in the region — is bad news. People in eastern DRC have had to grow accustomed to a daily cycle of violence and they know better than to expect any armed groups to treat them well.
In this latest round of fighting both sides have again engaged in acts of looting, killing and rape. Human rights groups documented the killings last week of an estimated 50 people, mostly men, in the town of Kiwanja when Nkunda’s troops captured the town from pro-government Mai Mai. Most of them were executed in their homes.
This week the Congolese army went on a looting rampage in the town of Kanyabayonga, several hundred kilometres north of Goma. Much of the unacceptable indiscipline can be blamed on poor training and even poorer — or non-existent — pay. Nozimo, a small 14-year-old boy, seems to agree that being a soldier is not a great job: ”I would never do it. It is death, it is death.”
State of play
- European Union
The European Union this week rejected France’s calls for a 1 500-strong force to be deployed. The United Kingdom and Germany said that the EU would encourage the African Union to do more and to encourage a political solution.
- UN
The United Nations mission in the DRC (Monuc) requested the deployment of an additional 3 000 troops to the DRC. UN head of peacekeeping Alain le Roy said the ratio of 10 peacekeeping troops to 10 000 civilians in the north and south Kivu was insufficient. The Security Council has not approved the additional troops yet.
- SADC
The SADC agreed to send a military fact-finding mission to the DRC to assess the situation.
- Angola
The Angolan government said this week that it would send an unspecified number of troops to the DRC, but it is unclear whether these would act as peace keepers — and if so, under whose mandate — or if they would align themselves with the Kinshasa government, their historical ally.
- Rwanda
The Rwandan government denied playing any role in the conflict in the eastern DRC. It said it was possible that demobilised Rwandan soldiers were fighting in there, but that it is the Congolese government’s responsibility to capture and return them.
- DRC
The Congolese government has ruled out all direct talks with General Laurent Nkunda.
- General Laurent Nkunda
Nkunda has threatened to take his conflict all the way to Kinshasa and to overthrow the Congolese government.