DR Congo says captured soldiers tortured by rebels

By Godfrey Olukya

ARU, Democratic Republic of Congo (AA) - Four crew members of a crashed Congolese military helicopter have been captured by former M23 rebels, security sources told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

A military spokesman in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo said the fighters seized the chopper’s crew last week.

Three of those captured by the rebels died after being severely tortured, it has also been claimed.

Security officer Peter Magamba said Congolese officials had confirmed the captures.

''The army commander, General Leon Mashale, was yesterday in Goma city and told local people and members of the press that the army has information that M23 rebels captured the members of the crew,'' Magamba said.

He added that Gen. Mashale said the crew members were taken alive but were tortured until three died.

M23 -- also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army -- was a mutinous military force which in 2012 seized control of Goma city in the country’s Northern Kivu province, bordering Uganda and Rwanda.

The former rebels have been living in camps in Uganda after being defeated by Congolese and UN forces in 2013. Recent reports suggested the fighters have started crossing from the camps back into DRC territory.

Uganda’s military recently said it intercepted over 100 former M23 rebels as they tried to enter DRC.

It is alleged they were escaping from camps back into the DRC because the government of President Joseph Kabila had failed to fulfill its promises on integrating the rebels back into the national army.