Government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) took back the eastern provincial capital of Bukavu without a fight on Wednesday, to the jubilation of residents, a week after the regular army was chased out by renegade troops. Residents of Bukavu danced in the streets, banging drums and cooking pots.

Dissident troops who this week overran the east Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town of Bukavu were gathering in and around the town Friday, a day after their leader promised to pull them out entirely. The soldiers were assembling at strategic points to defend the town they captured on Wednesday, their commander said.

President Joseph Kabila accused neighbouring Rwanda of being behind the renegade soldiers who on Wednesday captured a provincial capital in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Bukavu, the capital of Sud-Kivu province, fell to renegade troops led by two generals from the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), a former Rwandan-backed rebel group that is now represented in the transitional government in Kinshasa under the terms of a 2003 peace deal.

The peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suffered a major blow on Wednesday when renegade soldiers captured a provincial capital in the volatile east of the country. During the DRC’s 1998 to 2003 civil war the town, Bukavu, was a stronghold of the Congolese Rally for Democracy.

After raping teenaged Marie, three uniformed soldiers left her in a forest in Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province, where sexual violence is widespread. ”With the war, it was impossible to get to a hospital,” recalled the 17-year-old, between sobs brought on by the memory.