Bosco Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes. He was Laurent Nkunda’s second in command in the Congolese rebel group National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP). In early 2009, he broke with Nkunda, and since then, he has served as a General in the Congolese army. Ntaganda left the army at the end of March 2012 when he heard rumours that he was to be arrested by the Congolese police. After this, several hundred mutineers left the army. They are former members of the CNDP and had been integrated into the national army under a 2009 peace deal. These mutineers call themselves M23 and are led by Sultani Makenga; Ntaganda stated that he had no link with them. Rwanda is accused to back the rebels but denies it.
At the end of April the M23 started to attack the Congolese army in Masisi. On May 8th, the M23 with reportedly around 1,500 men entered the Mikeno Sector of the Virunga National Park, where the mountain gorillas live. Battles between the rebels and the army continued with mortars and heavy machine gun fire, even in and around the park’s patrol posts. UN combat helicopters fired missiles into the presumed rebel positions. The sector was closed for tourism, the ranger post at Bikenge was severely damaged and the rangers were evacuated from Bukima. In the meantime the heavy fighting has continued, more ranger posts have been damaged and looted. In mid-June the M23 took control of the Bunagana border post and the road to Uganda.

On July 8th the rangers and their families had to e evacuated from the Rumangabo headquarter because the situation had become too critical. The Berggorilla & Regenwald decided to support the emergency evacuation fund with US$ 5,000!

More details and news in the blog of the Virunga National Park and on the website on the crisis in Virunga. A  document with information is also available.