GOMA, Congo (news agencies) — Residents in eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, were fleeing on Monday after Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces as fighting escalated in recent days despite calls from the U.N. Security Council for the insurgents to withdraw.
Gunshots rang out across Goma overnight before dozens of rebels in military uniform early Monday morning marched into the capital of North Kivu province, which sits on the border with Rwanda. The Congolese government has not confirmed the fall of Goma, 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of capital Kinshasa, after severing ties with Rwanda on Saturday.
The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich region in the decades-long conflict, one of Africa’s largest. The rebels temporarily took over Goma in 2012, before they were forced to pull out under international pressure, and resurfaced in late 2021, with increasing support from Rwanda, according to Congo’s government and United Nations experts. Rwanda has denied such support.
Analysts have warned the latest escalation of hostilities could further destabilize the region, which is already home to one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises with more than 6 million people displaced. More than a third of North Kivu’s population are among the displaced, according to a U.N. report.
In a statement late Sunday, the U.N. Security Council called on the M23 to immediately reverse its advances.
“The members of the Security Council condemned the ongoing flagrant disregard for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC … and that the M23 put an end to the establishment of parallel administrations in the DRC territory,” the statement added, referring to Congo’s formal name, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The rebels announced early Monday they had captured the city just as a deadline they gave to Congolese security forces to surrender was about to expire. The rebels asked the Congolese military to assemble at the central stadium and urged residents to remain calm.
Congolese government officials have said the country is “in a war situation” and accused Rwanda of committing “a frontal aggression (and) a declaration of war.” Congo cut ties with Rwanda over the weekend as re cent attempts at diplomatic talks between the two countries failed.
The advance into Goma is the culmination of a prolonged battle between the rebels and the Congolese security forces that saw several towns along the Rwandan border falling to the insurgents.
On Sunday, hundreds of residents marched in the heat and through the night along roads with heavy traffic as they tried to flee Goma into Rwanda, carrying their babies, clothes and other belongings on their backs and heads. Many were still on the run on Monday morning.
“We are fleeing because we saw soldiers on the border with Rwanda throwing bombs and shooting,” said Safi Shangwe, who was among those on the move.
The U.N. special representative for Congo Bintou Keita told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council late Sunday that “we are trapped,” with the airport shut down and roads blocked.
At least 13 U.N. peacekeepers have been killed in the hostilities in the past week. The U.N. peacekeeping force, also known as MONUSCO, entered Congo more than two decades ago and has around 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.
The Uruguayan army, in Goma serving with the U.N. peacekeeping mission, said in a statement on the social platform X late Sunday that more than 100 Congolese soldiers were laying down their weapons.
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