Kivu Today has obtained disturbing intelligence information from Goma that the M23 rebel movement has apprehended two suspected South African spies operating under false Tanzanian identities.
The suspects, identified as cyber warfare experts, were conducting surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the city, allegedly with the backing of MONUSCO. Their mission, intelligence sources suggest, aimed at infiltrating critical communication infrastructure and installations in Goma to disrupt M23 operations.
They were targeting communications towers, air defense installations and other facilities.
The arrest took place yesterday morning in the heart of Goma, near the roundabout by the Central Bank, in a dramatic and rapid operation. M23 forces, acting on a tip-off, swiftly moved in to detain the two operatives just as they were carrying out their mission. MONUSCO peacekeepers, who had been escorting the spies, attempted to intervene, but M23 fighters quickly overpowered them in a brief scuffle. In the process, M23 successfully disarmed the MONUSCO soldiers and confiscated their weapons and advanced technical equipment, further exposing the UN mission’s entanglement in intelligence operations.
This incident adds to growing concerns over MONUSCO’s compromised role in the region, as it continues to shield over 400 FARDC soldiers, including Lt. Col. Ndjike Kaiko, three generals, 12 colonels, and other officers who sought refuge within its base. Intelligence sources indicate that MONUSCO, in coordination with SADC, is now scrambling to figure out how to extract these soldiers from Goma, knowing their presence has been exposed.
The latest revelations reinforce the long-standing accusations that MONUSCO is far from a neutral peacekeeping force. Its deep involvement in intelligence and military maneuvers, now laid bare, raises serious questions about its true mandate and credibility in the ongoing conflict.
The incident has also exposed SADAC’s continued involvement in the conflict despite its hypocritical statements in the recent summits where it recommended a ceasefire by M23 and political settlement with Felix Tshisekedi.