Central Africa: DR Congo - M23 Rebels Say North Kivu Governor Killed

William Lloyd-George/IPS
M23 rebels near Sake, Eastern DR Congo.
24 January 2025
The New Times (Kigali)

The military governor of North Kivu Province in eastern DR Congo was killed in the battlefield on Thursday, January 23, according to M23 rebels.

Maj Gen Peter Chirimwami, who was based in provincial capital of Goma, on Thursday reportedly travelled near Sake, a town that has seen a lot of fighting in recent weeks between the government coalition and the rebels.

ALSO READ: Panic spreads in Goma as M23 rebels threaten to march on city

"General Chirimwami is dead," M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka wrote on X close to midnight on Thursday, describing the military general as the "Commander-in-Chief of the FDLR," a militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, which is part of the coalition of the Congolese armed forces.

The M23 say they fight to protect civilians who killed the UN-sanctioned FDLR, which has been active in eastern DR Congo for about three decades.

"He was killed in Kasengezi while visiting the front lines to have his photo taken."

ALSO READ: M23 rebels capture key South Kivu town of Minova

The reports of Chirimwami's death had not been confirmed by Friday morning.

Chirimwami was appointed military governor of North Kivu in September 2023.

Reports of his death came amid heightened tensions near Goma on Thursday as the M23 rebels threatened to march on the city that is home to about 2 million people.

The major hospital in Goma was reportedly overwhelmed on Thursday as hundreds of injured people who brought in from the nearby battlefield.

This is a developing story...

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