The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) soldiers have been accused of exacerbating the growing insecurity in Opienge, Bafwasende territory, forcing approximately 80 per cent of the local population to flee their homes.

Civil society organisations and the administrator of the Bafwasende territory told journalists on Monday, March 10, that exactions against civilians have been on the rise since military reinforcements were sent to the area in January this year.

The civil society actors cited the case of a twenty-year-old man who was killed in cold blood by a soldier, claiming that “six bullets were fired into the body of the young man for no reason”.

Described as the “Jungle Battalion”, the soldiers sent as reinforcement to Opienge in January this year to fight the M23 were accused of being at the centre of the harassment of the Bafwasende locals in North Kivu.

“People have abandoned their houses and are hiding in the forest,” one of the civil society sources said. 

However, Willy Simbiye, the territory administrator, revealed that over 80 per cent of the population has been forced to flee for fear of the soldiers. “The soldiers have been provoking the population. They have mounted barriers everywhere?” he claimed.

According to Desire Aliene, an official of the civil society, “the population of Opienge has been trying to get to Bafwasende centre but there is no way because the soldiers have blocked the road.”

The territory administrator and civil society organisations have contacted the provincial authorities on the despicable behaviour of the soldiers, hoping that urgent measures would be taken to ensure a return to peace in Opienge.