Local official: Congo rebels seize town in volatile east after army flees advance

KINSHASA, Congo – A local official in volatile eastern Congo say rebels have seized the town of Rutshuru after the army fled.

Omar Kavota says the M23 rebels seized the town Sunday. Kavota says the army looted during their retreat.

Panicked residents fled Rutshuru Friday amid reports that rebels had advanced within shelling distance, according to the North Kivu Civil Society. Fears were heightened by the evacuation of U.N. and independent aid agencies, followed by the retreat of the army.

Congo’s two-year-long peace was shattered in April when an army unit led by Gen. Bosco Ntaganda defected.

They fled into the bush and regrouped as the M23, named for the date in March 2009 when the former rebels signed a deal with Congo’s government as the army was in full retreat and dissidents threatened to take the eastern provincial capital of Goma.