"Good riddance' is all Bahati, a middle-aged farmer in Minova, said when asked about the defeat of Burundian and Congolese troops by the M23 in this lakeside locality, a gateway to the South Kivu province.
"They are not good people, they chased us from our farms and pushed us into camps," he told The New Times last week in his hometown of Minova, one of the areas where Burundi had deployed large numbers of troops in support of FARDC, Wazalendo militia as well as the FDLR militia, linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
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When the Burundi National Defence Force (FDNB) deployed an estimated 10,000 combat troops to DR Congo in support of President Félix Tshisekedi's military campaign against the M23, they took positions atop various strategic high grounds in and around Minova, forcing citizens off their farms - and out of their homes.
A major trading hub connecting North and South Kivu provinces, Minova is renowned for fertile soils and was a major source of supplies to Goma - through Lake Kivu - when fighting blocked several of the city's supply routes before the capture of Goma.
However, when the Burundians arrived here, they destroyed people's farms, especially in the high grounds they soon occupied, including Gatare, Buhamba, Bobandana, and Kasunyu.
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According to residents, the Burundians worked alongside Congolese troops and several militia groups, including FDLR, notably setting up bases close to populated neighbourhoods.
Ammunitions, trenches atop Golgotha
"It was hard to distinguish them, because sometimes they'd wear similar uniforms," said one resident who lives at the foot of Bobandana, also known as Golgotha.
For Sifa Mawulizo, whom we found tilling her land on the hillsides of Gatare, ever since the coalition forces were routed from Minova life has returned to normal, with residents "sleeping soundly these days."
"We are back to our farms," she added. "Things are now going well."
Fifty-year-old Espérance Antoinette said, "We now have no problem of food and schools have reopened."
But teachers haven't been receiving salaries, added the farmer. "I hope our government will soon find a solution." When we asked for clarification, she said she meant the M23 administration. "These are the ones who are giving us security."
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At the peak of Bobandana/Golgotha, The New Times found several military trenches and ammunitions, including unexploded ordnances, abandoned by the Burundian troops.
There were also exploded and unexploded bombs lying all over the place, as well as an RPG-7 rocket launcher. There were also pieces of military tents, helmets and empty magazines.
During a visit to a seized armoury for President Tshisekedi's coalition in Goma back in February, this reporter saw sealed boxes of RPG-7 rocket launchers bearing Burundian labels, corresponding one of the ammunitions we found at Bobandana last week.
"They possessed heavy weapons," one resident said, referring to Burundian units that occupied Gatare.
At the top of this hill, there are visible trenches and caves.
In Minova, Burundian forces could see Rwanda
In terms of supplies, Minova was a strategic area.
With the M23 blocking the Minova-Goma road in the months prior to the capture of Goma, the Burundian forces here were able to receive supplies via Lake Kivu. They would collect them from Gituku port in Goma to Kasunyu port, from where they would then transport them by land.
In the grand scheme of things, Minova hills offered a vantage point, as some of the hills the Burundians occupied, such as Gatare, allowed them to see Rwanda.
We climbed up several of these raised grounds and, in some cases, we could see Rwanda's border districts of Rubavu and Rutsiro.
Standing on top of Gatare hill, I saw low-lying Goma and Rubavu to the east, as well as Iwawa Island in Rutsiro to the southeast.
"This posed a direct threat to Rwanda," a former FDLR combatant told this reporter last week.
"Remember, the number one priority for Tshisekedi and his coalition (including genocidal FDLR militia, SADC forces, European mercenaries and Burundian forces) was to invade Rwanda, and so their deployments, whether along the border with Rwanda, or in strategic localities like Minova, were designed to help meet that objective."
It was also discovered that Tshisekedi's arsenal included long-range weapons with capacity to strike targets 50km away.
In addition, the Burundians and their allied forces and militias in Minova had calculated they would mount an unbreachable defence against M23 advances from the north.
"This was meant to be the first step."
The second, he said, "was to then use Minova as the launchpad for offensives they hoped would eventually drive M23 out of the dominating hills overlooking Minova and Sake and go on to retake Rubaya and other localities they had lost.
"The Burundians badly wanted to recapture Rubaya because protecting it was their main task, an obsession of sorts," the ex-FDLR fighter added. "That's why Tshisekedi had agreed to pay the Burundian president heavily, it was more like a mercenary deal."
Indeed, we later learnt from the M23 commanders that fought against the Burundian troops that it was the Burundians from Minova that provoked M23 into marching on this town and eventually Goma in January.
A decisive counteroffensive
Burundian troops and their coalition partners mounted an offensive against M23 positions in the high grounds north of Minova, triggering a decisive counteroffensive and rapid advances by M23.
Beaten, the Burundians and their allies in Minova then fled southwards in the direction of Kavumu, weakening the coalition's position on Goma-Sake axis.
During our tour of the former bases of the Burundian troops in Minova, we discovered that, as much as the hills of Minova are strategic, offering a 360-degree view, they also posed a logistical challenge.
They are mostly defined by sharp inclines, making it difficult to replenish supplies for the positions atop.
Furthermore, while positions atop these hills offer a clear view of a range of hills north of Minova that were at the time dominated by the M23, they are considerably shorter.
Hills like Rukara, Nambi, Kayonde, Muremure and Ndumba allowed M23 to strike the positions of the Burundian forces in Minova with relative ease.
"Things kept going south for the Burundians," said the former FDLR combatant.
Indeed, the Burundian troops here, along with their genocidal FDLR militia and FARDC allies, eventually retreated from the frontlines and fled southwards.
'Our Minova is back'
To the residents of Minova, who have since returned to their homes and are back tilling their farms, they are hoping the peace they are enjoying now is not for the short term.
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Once security was restored, they immediately returned to their homes - and to their farms.
The steep - and fertile - hills of Minova, which likely played a key part in the collapse of Burundi's war plan here, are once again being scaled by relieved farmers of Minova, doing what they do best.
"We are back and Minova is back," said Espérance.
"Soon we will be harvesting," she beams, glancing at the vast terraced fields of beans, maize and cassava that dominate the hillsides of Minova, along with banana plantations.
To these residents, the presence of Burundian soldiers on their beloved rolling hills represented hardship and deprivation.
'They brought us trouble'
"I hope we won't be seeing them coming back to invade us and occupying our beautiful hills and farms again," added Deborah, a 20-year-old mother of one, and daughter to Espérance.
"They brought us trouble, but now we are fine," she added, breastfeeding her little baby.
Her mother interjects, "We have security now; it's been a long time since we felt like this. Those people that had brought us problems should never be allowed to come back here."
As we drove around, we saw people clearing their compounds and pathways, as the work to rebuild their lives begins in earnest.
Known as the home of Kwanga, a popular Congolese dish made from fermented cassava dough, and a variety of fish dishes, Minova lies west of Goma in Kalehe territory, some 45km from Goma.
Our trip on the unpaved road lasted around two and a half hours thanks to a punctured tire (because of a bullet we drove over), apparently somewhere between Sake and Sasha in Masisi territory.
But there is a much shorter option, travelling by boat across the northernmost section of Lake Kivu.
