Almost 500 fighters from a faction of one of the largest armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have surrendered to the government just over a month after they attempted to overthrow the group’s leader.
Soldiers from the NDC-R, a rebel group seen as having close ties with the national army, sang and danced before handing over an assortment of small arms at a ceremony on Monday in the village of Kashuga, about 75 km (46 miles) north of Goma.
Fighting has raged between two groups of the NDC-R since July 9 when a section loyal to deputy leader Gilbert Bwira Shuo attempted to oust their leader Shimiray Guidon, who is the target of U.N. sanctions, accusing him of human rights abuses.
“As you have just consented to become a government soldier, each of you come and lay down your weapon,” Bwira told the group of fighters, who wore a hodge-podge of camouflage, European football shirts, and rubber boots.
The surrender does not necessarily mean an end to their involvement in rebel fighting, said Christoph Vogel, a researcher at Ghent University in Belgium.
