Uganda arrests 101 Congolese ex-rebels heading for Congo

Uganda has arrested 101 members of a former Congolese rebel group which surrendered in 2013, but which is suspected of planning new attacks in eastern Congo, the government in Kampala said Thursday.

The statement said security forces had detained 101 former fighters from the M23 movement, who had escaped from a military encampment in the west of the country and were heading to Congo.

Disguised as civilians, the fighters were travelling on four vehicles in the western town of Mbarara, according to the statement.

The 101 followed an earlier group of 40 that escaped a week ago and whose whereabouts are not known, the statement added.

Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende said Sunday that two groups of armed M23 members had entered Congo and that the army had been alerted.

M23 – short for Movement of March 23 – was formed in early 2012 when nearly 300 Congolese soldiers, mainly from the Tutsi community, defected and turned against the government, accusing it of reneging on a 2009 peace deal.

The United Nations estimated that the fighting displaced more than 100,000 people.

M23 renounced its armed campaign in November 2013 after suffering heavy defeats at the hands of the Congolese army and a UN peacekeeping force.

Hundreds of the fighters fled to Uganda, which has accused Congo of not keeping its promises of repatriating them.

Dozens of armed groups are active in eastern Congo.