Place in Tshuapa, DR Congo
Ikela Territory an administrative division of Tshuapa Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The headquarters of the Territory is the town of Ikela.
The territory is divided into Loile Sector, Lofome Sector, Lokina Sector, Tumbenga Sector and Tshuapa Sector.[1]
History
Near the former front line, the town was largely destroyed during the Second Congo War (1998-2002) during the siege by forces of the Congolese Rally for Democracy. The population of about 15,000, which fled at the time, is now rebuilding the town.
The town of Ikela endured a siege of about a year, from 1998 to 1999, marking one of the darkest periods in its history. On a Sunday in January 1998, around 3 p.m., a violent attack was launched by a group of Rwandan and Ugandan rebels, affiliated with the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD). The attackers, heavily armed, appeared wearing the uniforms of the 227th Brigade—also nicknamed "two two seven"—thus creating confusion among the population and local forces. In complete chaos, the enemy, disguised as members of the Congolese army, infiltrated Ikela, blurring the lines and making it nearly impossible to distinguish between allies and foes. This infiltration, a symbol of military collapse and a crisis of trust, plunged the town into a state of disorientation and terror, further exacerbating the suffering of the inhabitants.
Despite the horror of the situation, the vigilance of the regular armed forces managed to offer crucial protection to the population and to prevent the town from the worst. Bullets flew in all directions, causing countless deaths, leaving behind desperate mothers abandoning their children, and men helpless against the relentless power of the enemy war machine. After being caught off guard by the rebels in the Itafa district, near Sacré-Cœur, a group of women, children, and men were rescued thanks to the joint intervention of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FAC) and the Zimbabwean army. These civilians were evacuated across the Tshuapa River and led into the forest near Bokole Sondjo. However, the threat persisted, as the region was already heavily occupied by rebel forces, plunging these survivors into a new ordeal of uncertainty and terror, despite the heroic efforts made for their safety.
Near the village of Lingomo, an 11-year-old girl, Basele Lokwa Wenge Bibi, was separated from her family and found herself isolated among a group of displaced people trying to reach the other side of the Tshuapa River. It is remembered that she had set out with Arthur Bofaya Lokwa Ekolo, who tragically perished during an attack. Desperate but resilient, young Basele, along with the other survivors, continued her journey toward the village of Mandaka Ngelo. A week later, the group, now weakened, decided to turn back to Bokole. It was here that events took an unexpected turn: the group split up, and in a surprising twist, young Basele managed to cross the river with military tanks taking position in Ikela. This journey, as dramatic as it was unexpected, stands as a testament to the strength of spirit of a child facing the horrors of war and the survival instinct in the face of the unimaginable.
Namibian soldier Mister Mingistro, an expert in handling anti-aircraft weapons, managed to reassure the population by repelling each devastating rebel attack alongside his comrades. Under his command, the enemy was held at bay during each assault, but the cost was heavy. As the battles raged on, the ground was littered with bodies—soldiers, civilians, and rebels alike—victims of the relentless violence. Each victory, though decisive, left behind macabre scars, testifying to the devastation of a war where no life seemed spared. Thanks to the courage and determination of Mingistro and his fellow soldiers, the fragile balance between protection and devastation held, offering a glimmer of hope to a terrified population.
This war, more than just a conflict, resembled a true race to extermination, where refugees from the Second Congo War (1998-2003), fleeing massacres in Rutshuru, Ubundu, and Kisangani, desperately sought to reach Ikela. Those who had escaped the violence found themselves hunted again, relentlessly pursued by ruthless rebel forces, supported by Rwandan and Ugandan armies. A group of these refugees, believing they had found refuge by heading toward Boende, tasted only a brief respite: no sooner had they crossed the region than the rebels reappeared, spreading terror and death once again in their wake. This infernal cycle of flight and massacre left little hope for these civilians, whose survival was continuously threatened by the merciless brutality of this implacable war.
The army took care to build underground shelters to protect the population as the town became encircled, its inhabitants caught in a deadly stranglehold. Faced with this desperate situation, the only chance of survival lay in hiding within these shelters, hastily constructed by the military forces. A total mobilization of the population was observed, with everyone committing to the defense of the town, uniting civilians and soldiers in a common cause. The Congolese of Ikela, the Congolese armed forces, and their Zimbabwean and Namibian allies rallied around a single battle cry: "If Ikela must fall, it will be with the last drop of blood from those who swear never to surrender their freedom." This oath, shared by all, embodied the spirit of resistance in the face of an implacable threat, and their determination to defend this inalienable freedom to the end. Ikela, encircled, this town located in the heart of the DRC, remains the last strategic stronghold to open the way to Kinshasa from the north.[1]
Food quickly ran out, plunging the town into an unprecedented famine. Faced with this crisis, the regular army's headquarters ingeniously supplied the armed forces and the besieged population by air-dropping food and ammunition. For nearly a year, fierce fighting pitted the regular army, supported by Zimbabwean and Namibian contingents, against the rebel forces of the Congolese Rally for Democracy. This survival strategy, combined with the resilience of the defenders, allowed them to maintain their resistance against a relentless enemy, demonstrating the determination of the loyalist forces not to yield, despite the isolation and harsh conditions.
The imminent arrival of the 504th battalion of the regular army, a unit composed of young university students who had abandoned their studies at the University of Kinshasa and elsewhere to defend their ancestors' land against the invader, marked a decisive turning point. Initially deployed in the East before the fall of Kindu, this battalion was redirected 20 km from Boende, where it repelled the rebels after fierce fighting, winning victories in Bokungu, Mondombe, Baloko, Bokende, Bongele, Yalusaka, Ya Kindu, Maboka, and other locations after days and nights of uninterrupted battle. Despite heavy losses, the 504th battalion maintained an unwavering morale, reaching the outskirts of the Ikela encirclement on Christmas Eve 1999. During the final confrontation at the entrance to the town, from December 22 to 24, 1999, soldier Mumberé, from the first section, was caught in an ambush near Sacré-Cœur. Armed with his MAG and aware of the sacrifice to come, he bid farewell to his comrades and, in a heroic act, launched a suicide attack, shouting that his spirit, rooted in this land, would survive beyond death. "Let them take this body, but my land will take my spirit," were his last words. By breaking the ambush and opening a breach, the 504th finally entered Ikela, liberating the town and putting an end to the rebel occupation.[2]
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