Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they want to take their fight to the nation‘s capital, Kinshasa.
By Linda Bordoni
After capturing much of Goma, M23 rebels are reportedly advancing toward South Kivu’s provincial capital, Bukavu, causing fear and panic among residents.
Tension in central Africa is spiralling as the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo calls for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion and his defence minister rejects calls for talks.
DRC’s Defense Minister has vowed to stay and fight rather than enter into dialogue with M23 rebels who have taken control of the eastern city of Goma, home to over 6 million people displaced by decades of conflict.
Backed by neighbouring Rwanda, the rebels who are continuing in their drive to assert control also over Goma’s neighbouring South Kivu province, said they would be open to dialogue with the government, also proposed by the east African regional bloc of which Rwanda is a member.
During a briefing, they revealed however that their aim is to gain political power.
Meanwhile, Rwanda’s leader, Paul Kagame said he spoke with Angola’s President Joao Lourenco — a mediator in the conflict who also met with DRC’s leader a day earlier — and both leaders committed to working with other African countries to resolve the hostilities.
M23 rebels
The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda.
They are one of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in DR Congo’s mineral-rich east, which holds vast deposits that are critical to much of the world’s technology.
On the ground in Goma, dead bodies are reportedly being left on the streets, looting is rampant and the city is largely without electricity and water.
The chaotic situation with the M23 has its roots in ethnic conflict, stretching back to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda when 800,000 Tutsis and others were killed by Hutus and former militias.
M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and others involved in the genocide
Many Hutus fled to Congo after 1994. Unlike in 2012 when the rebels seized Congo for days, observers say their withdrawal could be more difficult now. The rebels have been emboldened by Rwanda, which feels Congo is ignoring its interests in the region and failed to meet the demands of previous peace agreements.
