Katumbi, the leader of the Congolese opposition, declares the Bukavu attack a war crime

Moise Katumbi, a Congolese opposition politician, has denounced the AFC/M23 rebels’ attack on a gathering in Bukavu city on Thursday, February 27, which left over 70 people injured and 12 people dead.

The deployment of explosives at the march, which drew tens of thousands of people, was described by the Republic party’s Assembly leader as “an imprescriptible war crime for which those responsible must be held accountable before the courts.”

Corneille Nangaa, the leader of the AFC/M23 rebels who captured Bukavu on February 15, two weeks after seizing Goma, another important city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, called the demonstration.

The Congolese government was held accountable for the attack by the M23 rebels. The explosions were described by the Congolese government as a “terrorist act perpetrated by a foreign army illegally present on Congolese soil.”

“Terrorism is never a solution to peace. “We have to neutralize the bombers and their sponsors,” Katumbi declared.

“We cannot grieve the terrible loss of the Bukavu victims with enough tears in our eyes. I vehemently condemn the vicious assault against the civilians who had assembled in Bukavu at the AFC’s invitation,” he said.

The former governor of southern Congo’s Katanga province called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to step in and bring charges against the guilty.

“The person responsible for carrying the explosives was among those killed,” Nangaa said.

Nangaa told the media quickly after the attack that his movement will take care of the injured and advised the residents of Bukavu to maintain their composure.

Accusing neighboring Burundi of complicity, Nangaa’s deputy Bertrand Bisimwa claimed that “the explosives used belonged to the Burundian army,” which has troops in South Kivu.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has maintained that talks with the rebels are impossible, even as the country has lost large areas of its eastern region and requests for peace talks have increased.