UN claims M23 fighters backed by 1000’s of Rwandan troopers in lightning offensive on nation’s mineral-rich east.
Rwanda-backed rebels are closing in on the important thing japanese Democratic Republic of the Congo metropolis of Bukavu, promising to proceed their lightning offensive till they take the nationwide capital.
The bloody battle within the japanese DRC took a dramatic flip this week when Kigali-backed fighters from the M23 claimed to take management of Goma in North Kivu province earlier than advancing southwards within the path of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.
“We are going to proceed the march of liberation all the way in which to Kinshasa,” declared insurgent chief Corneille Nangaa on Thursday, 4 days after the group stated it had captured Goma, the place combating left dozens killed and noticed surrendering Congolese troopers being trucked out of the town to an undisclosed location.
On Thursday, M23 fighters have been reportedly inside hanging distance of a strategic army airport within the metropolis of Kavumu, situated about 40km (25 miles) north of Bukavu, in accordance with native sources quoted by AFP information company.
A United Nations spokesperson warned on the identical day that the organisation was involved by “credible experiences” that the M23 was “shifting quickly” in the direction of Bukavu, which has a inhabitants of two million.
UN specialists declare the M23 – certainly one of greater than 100 armed teams vying for management in DRC’s east – is backed by some 4,000 troopers from Rwanda, which Kinshasa says is pillaging invaluable sources from the mineral-rich territory.
Rwanda, for its half, says its main purpose is to eradicate fighters linked to the 1994 genocide, accusing the Congolese army of becoming a member of forces with ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis and threatening its neighbour.
The insurgent fighters declare they’re open to dialogue with the federal government in Kinshasa. However Congolese Defence Minister Man Kabombo Muadiamvita rejected talks this week, saying in a video message that plans for any dialogue with the rebels be “burned instantly”.
In response to the fast-moving disaster, leaders of regional bloc the Southern African Growth Neighborhood (SADC) convened an emergency summit in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, on Friday.
The assembly follows hovering tensions between Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa after the deaths of 13 South African troopers in DRC’s east.
Rwanda’s Overseas Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe stated on Thursday: “We’re able to defend ourselves if we’re attacked by a coalition together with South African forces.”
Goma remained largely with out electrical energy and water on Thursday, because the our bodies of a number of alleged authorities troopers lay within the streets.
The M23 offensive has heightened an already dire humanitarian disaster within the area, inflicting meals and water shortages and forcing half one million folks from their houses this month, in accordance with the Worldwide Group for Migration.
“Tens of millions of individuals have been already displaced by years of battle in japanese DRC, and humanitarian wants have been huge. With the present alarming upsurge in combating, an already dire scenario is quickly turning into very a lot worse,” stated IOM director basic Amy Pope.
