Lubero is a town in the

North Kivu Province North Kivu (french: link=no, Nord-Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Goma. North Kivu borders the provinces of Ituri to the north, Tshopo to the northwest, Maniema to the so ...

of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. It is the administrative center of the

Lubero Territory Lubero Territory is a territory in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Internally displaced persons On 10 June, 2014, the administrator of Lubero Territory, Joy Bokele, requested assistance for six hundred displaced households who soug ...

. Following the surrender of the

Mai-Mai The term Mai-Mai or Mayi-Mayi refers to any kind of community-based militia group active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that is formed to defend local communities and territory against other armed groups. Most were formed to resis ...

fighters in 2021, construction of a new market began in 2022, involving the mayor, ex-soldiers, "young people at risk and the vulnerable women". , the population of Lubero is not publicly known.

Location

The town is lies at an average altitude of , in the Virunga Mountains, at the western edge of

Virunga National Park , iucn_category = II , iucn_ref = , location = Democratic Republic of the Congo , map = Democratic Republic of the Congo , relief = 1 , coordinates = , area = , established = , nearest_city = Goma , photo =Virunga National Park-107997 ...

, close to the international border with

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. Lubero lies approximately , by road, north of the provincial capital of

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the weste ...

. This location is approximately , by road, southwest of

Beni is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...

, the nearest large town.

Overview

Lubero is a medium-sized town with several modern amenities including an airport, Lubero Airport, with a grass runway. In the hills around the town, a mini-hydropower station, ''Lubero Hydroelectric Power Station'', is planned to complement Mutwanga Hydroelectric Power Station and Rutshuru Hydroelectric Power Station, in supplying power to the communities in and around

. Like most localities in

North Kivu North Kivu (french: link=no, Nord-Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Goma. North Kivu borders the provinces of Ituri to the north, Tshopo to the northwest, Maniema to the so ...

, Lubero has witnessed plenty of violence as the various militias have battled each other for real estate and treasure during the last two decades. Battles have also been fought between the militias, government forces and United Nations "peace keepers". The toll in human lives has been high. Many have been left with physical disabilities. More suffer long-term psychological war trauma. In 2022

MONUSCO The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was estab ...

announced that work had begun to build a market here involving ex-

combatant Combatant is the legal status of an individual who has the right to engage in hostilities during an armed conflict. The legal definition of "combatant" is found at article 43(2) of Additional Protocol I (AP1) to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It ...

s as part of their integration into the community. The market was designed to offer protection to vulnerable women. On August 27, 2022, at least five people were stabbed, and several houses were burned during a community conflict, which opposes the inhabitants of the localities of Matulu and Bukununu in the Musindi Groupement south of Lubero territory in North Kivu. On September 7, 2022, four people of the same family were reported dead in a house collapse in Lukanga, the capital of the Bukenye Groupement, in the Lubero territory of North Kivu. On September 19, 2022, two people were killed in the village of Musenda, in the chiefdom of Bashaga, in the territory of Lubero, in North Kivu, during an incursion of the Mai-Mai militiamen of the Chandenga group. In September 2022, ten cases of kidnappings were reported in the locality of Bunyangingi, in the Itala Groupement in the Lubero territory, North Kivu. On September 25, 2022, a young man died after a grenade explosion in a Kipese village in the Bulengya Groupement, Lubero territory, North Kivu. In October 2022, the

FARDC The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo

ARDC The abbreviation ARDC may refer to: *Air Research and Development Command, later renamed the Air Force Systems Command * Amateur Radio Digital Communications, a mode using IP addresses beginning with 44.x *American Racing Drivers Club, a midget car ...

is the armed forces, state organisation responsible for defending the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARD ...

(''Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo'') killed six militiamen belonging to the Mai-Mai coalition of Mazembe and

Baraka Baraka or Barakah may refer to: * Berakhah or Baraka, in Judaism, a blessing usually recited during a ceremony * Barakah or Baraka, in Islam, the beneficent force from God that flows through the physical and spiritual spheres * Baraka, full ''ḥ ...

. The Congolese army retrieved three of their weapons of war during the fighting in Matembe village in the Lubero territory, North Kivu. In December 2022, two people died as a result of clashes between the Mai-Mai group of the ''Front des Patriotes pour la Paix'' (FPP/AP) of Kabido to the unidentified armed group of Kasinga village, in the Ngulo group, Lubero territory, North Kivu. In January and February 2023, at least 23 civilians were killed, more were reported missing, and thousands more were displaced as a result of clashes between Mai-Mai armed groups of the ''Front des Patriotes pour la Paix'' (FPP/AP) of Kabido, the ''Union des Patriotes congolais'' (UPC) of Kilalo and the Yira-Force and Mazembe coalition. In March 2023, nine people were killed and several others went missing following the armed attack carried out by ADF terrorists in the Nguli village in the Lubero territory, North Kivu, according to the provincial deputy Jean-Paul Lumbulumbu. In the same month, the rebels took civilians

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

in the village of Katiri in Isale Kasongwere Groupement, in the

Beni territory Beni Territory is a territory in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has been the site of fighting during the Allied Democratic Forces insurgency between government troops and the ADF militia, which also crosses the border into the t ...

, North Kivu. Parenthetically, the insurgents also erected a stronghold in the Virunga National Park between the villages of Kavasewa and Karuruma.

Gallery

References

{{coord, 00, 09, 18, S, 29, 14, 24, E, format=dms, display=title Populated places in North Kivu

Location

Overview

Gallery

See also

References