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Troops went on the offensive on Wednesday against M23 rebel positions in DR Congo’s east, the army announced, as residents reported fighting on several fronts in North Kivu province.
Backed by “wazalendo” or patriotic militia, the army “launched the offensives early this morning May 22,” said FARDC spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Guillaume Ndjike on X, formerly Twitter.
Armed clashes occurred overnight in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory. This was reported by High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, the representative of the Paris government, during a press conference.
“Large caliber weapons, hunting rifles, were used to shoot at the gendarmes,” said Le Franc, according to whom “there were no deaths”.
Fierce fighting has continued for a second day on the fringes ofthe Kharkiv region in north-east Ukraine. Moscow said it had captured five villages, while Kyiv said it was pushing back against the attacks and battling for control of the territory.
Russia launched the armoured incursion early on Friday, in an attack that may presage a broader push into the Kharkiv region, or aim to draw away overstretched Ukrainian forces in the east where Moscow’s offensive is focused.
Hamas said it has accepted a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar which seeks to halt the seven-month war with Israel in Gaza.
In a statement Monday, Hamas said the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, told the Qatari prime minister and Egyptian intelligence minister that the militant group had accepted their proposal.
Russia has amassed up to 25,000 soldiers around the strategic settlement of Chasiv Yar, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday, as the Kremlin claims to have seized another village in the Donetsk region.
“The enemy has amassed a grouping of 20,000-25,000 servicemen” around Chasiv Yar, Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia grouping of forces, told Ukrainian television in remarks reported by domestic media.