Rumangabo

MONUSCO peacekeepers distributing drinking water to the population of the previously rebel-held locality of Rumangabo during the M23 rebellion, October 2013.

Rumangabo is military base of the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in Rutshuru Territory, north of Goma in Nord Kivu province, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of the headquarters of Virunga National Park.

During Mobutu Sese Seko's presidency, the strategic base of Rumangabo was occupied by the 411th battalion of the 41st Bde Cdo.^[1] The Rumangabo-based unit was among the Zairian troops that, in 1984, went to defend the Aouzou Strip in Chad against Ghadaffi's troops.^{[citation needed]} The battalion plunder the city in December 1992.^[1] During the First Congo War, Rumangabo was among the harder strongholds that Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo rebels, commanded by Laurent-Désiré Kabila and supported by Rwanda, needed to capture prior to advancing eastwards through the country.^{[citation needed]}

On 7 October 2008, during the Kivu conflict, Rumangabo was captured from the Congolese Army by members of Laurent Nkunda's faction, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). On the 10th, Nkunda's forces were persuaded by MONUC to withdraw from the military base. The fighting severely threatened the lives of the rangers at the nearby park station. On 26 October it was again captured by rebels. They advanced further on both north and south axes toward Rutshuru and Goma.^{[citation needed]}

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Coordinates: 1°20′43.39″S 29°23′33.29″E / 1.3453861°S 29.3925806°E / -1.3453861; 29.3925806