BUKAVU, Congo (AP) — In the city of Bukavu in eastern Congo, Alain Mukumiro argues in a small wooden hut with a shopkeeper who refuses to take his money.

Like many in the rebel-controlled city, Mukumiro is using older, hole-punched banknotes that have been patched up and put back into circulation because of a shortage of new and intact bills.

“All my money has serial numbers, but they refuse it,” Mukumiro said, upset about his ordeal.

Mukumiro said his family faces yet another night with empty stomachs, like many in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group captured Bukavu in February following an escalation of fighting between the insurgents and Congolese forces in the country’s mineral-rich east. Congolese authorities closed the city’s banks as the

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