Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo:
Congolese security forces are struggling to contain violence in Goma, where Rwandan-backed M23 rebels appeared to have consolidated their control over eastern Congo’s largest city. Supported by Rwandan troops, the Rebel fighters marched into the lakeside city of nearly 2 million on Monday in the worst escalation of a long-running conflict in over a decade.
It remained unclear how much of the provincial capital was under the control, but according to media reports, the M23 armed group seized control of Goma’s airport, which could cut off the main route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
The security source told news agency AFP that “more than 1,200 Congolese soldiers have surrendered and are confined” to the airport base of the UN’s mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Violence Escalated Quickly
Destin Jamaica Kela, who fled across the border to Rwanda as fighting raged in Goma, told AFP that “things changed very fast”.
“Bombs were falling and killing other people everywhere, we saw dead bodies,” the 24-year-old said.
Bertrand Bisimwa, who leads the M23’s political wing, said on X that the last pockets of resistance in Goma had been put down.
“Our army is working hard to guarantee total security, complete tranquillity and definitive peace as is the case for all their compatriots living in liberated zones,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, 1,600 km (1,000 miles) west of Goma, protesters attacked a UN compound and embassies including those of Rwanda, France and the United States on Tuesday, angered at what they said was foreign interference.
Hospitals Overflowing
Days of intense clashes have killed more than 100 people and wounded nearly 1,000, according to an AFP tally of deaths from the city’s overflowing hospitals.
“We had to drain gasoline from ambulances to power the generator because there are people on respirators who couldn’t survive without electricity…The injuries are often very severe. Some people die before they even get there.” the manager of one hospital in Goma told news agency Reuters.
Crisis Summit
The president of crisis-hit DR Congo Felix Tshisekedi was set to meet on Wednesday with Rwandan President Paul Kagame at an “extraordinary” summit of the East African Community hosted by Kenya, as fighters backed by Kigali were advancing in Goma.
Ahead of the crisis talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressed Kagame for an immediate end to the fighting in a call the Rwandan leader described Wednesday as “productive”. Rubio told Kagame that Washington was “deeply troubled” by the escalation and urged respect for “sovereign territorial integrity”, the US State Department said in a statement.
Later, in a post on X, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said he had agreed in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the need for a ceasefire but gave no indication of bowing to demands for a withdrawal from Goma.
“Had a productive conversation with Secretary Rubio on the need to ensure a ceasefire in Eastern DRC and address the root causes of the conflict once and for all,” Kagame wrote.
The assault on Goma also led to widespread international condemnation of Rwanda and calls for a ceasefire. The United States urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to consider unspecified measures to halt the offensive.
About DRC Conflict
M23 is the latest in a string of ethnic Tutsi-led, Rwandan-backed insurgencies that have roiled Congo since the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda 30 years ago, when Hutu extremists killed Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and then were toppled by the Tutsi-led forces led by Kagame.
Rwanda says some of the ousted perpetrators have been sheltering in Congo since the genocide, forming militias with alliances with the Congolese government, and pose a threat to Congolese Tutsis and Rwanda itself.
Congo rejects Rwanda’s complaints and says Rwanda has used its proxy militias to control and loot lucrative minerals such as coltan, which is used in smartphones.
M23 rebels had earlier captured Goma in 2012 during its last major insurgency but withdrew after a few days following intense international pressure and threats to withdraw aid to Rwanda. Citing analysts and diplomats, Reuters reported that kind of pressure is unlikely to materialise this time due to a reluctance by world powers to take on Rwanda, which has positioned itself as a stable partner in a tumultuous region.