Residents in Goma, the biggest metropolis within the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), had been fleeing on Monday after the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces as combating escalated regardless of calls from the United Nations Safety Council for the rebels to withdraw.
Gunshots rang out throughout Goma in a single day earlier than dozens of rebels in navy uniform early Monday morning marched into the capital of North Kivu province, which sits on the border with Rwanda within the unstable area wealthy in minerals which might be crucial to a lot of the world’s expertise.
The Congolese authorities confirmed the presence of M23 rebels in Goma, 1,500km (930 miles) east of the capital Kinshasa, however stopped wanting saying they had been in command of town.
In a press release on X, authorities spokesman Patrick Muyaya requested Goma residents to remain at house and likewise urged Congolese nationals world wide to mobilise in help of the nation. “No centimetre can be given up!!!” Muyaya wrote.
The March 23 Motion (M23) is one in every of about 100 armed teams vying for a foothold within the mineral-rich area within the decades-long battle. The rebels briefly took over Goma in 2012, earlier than they had been compelled to tug out below worldwide strain, and resurfaced in late 2021, with rising help from Rwanda, in accordance with Congo’s authorities and UN consultants. Rwanda has denied such help.
Rwanda’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs accused DRC of failing to enter a dialogue with M23, which it described as a “Congolese insurgent group combating to guard their neighborhood”.
That failure, it stated, has extended the combating that continues to current “a severe menace to Rwanda’s safety and territorial integrity, and necessitates Rwanda’s sustained defensive posture”.
