Ten Congolese soldiers are nursing gunshot and bomb injuries at St. Francis Hospital, Mutolere in Kisoro.
The soldiers sustained the injuries during clashes with the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels between Friday and Sunday last week in Buganana, Rushuru territory, which fell to the rebels on Monday morning.
According to reliable information obtained by our reporter, the injured Congolese troops have been operated upon. Only one soldier whose lungs were shuttered by a bullet is still Intensive Care. On Tuesday evening, Jean Pierre Masala, the Congolese Ambassador to Uganda visited the hospitalized soldiers.
He ran short of words after seeing the state of the soldiers and only handed them envelopes containing an unspeficied amount of money for upkeep and left. He declined to talk to journalists.
Later, Hajji Shafique Ssekandi Ssengoba, the Kisoro Resident District Commissioner confirmed the admission of the soldiers, saying the majority are responding to treatment with the exception of the one in intensive care.
He also revealed that Masala had promised to liaise with the DRC government to find means of paying the medical bills of the injured soldiers. By Tuesday evening, Bunagana border was still in the hands of M23 rebels.
The governor’s spokesman, Brigadier General Sylvain Ekenge, said the Congolese army is determined to reclaim the border town at all costs. Jean-Claude Mbabaze, the president of the civil society of Rutshuru says the government troops behaved professionally and withdrew from the city of Bunagana to avoid collateral damage.
He explains that bombs were already starting to fall near Bunagana prompting the government troops to tactfully withdraw to prevent damage to the civilians.