Rebels enter centre of Congo’s Goma after claiming capture of city

Witnesses reported that Congolese M23 rebels entered the heart of Goma, an eastern city, on Monday, shortly after asserting control over the area, despite the United Nations Security Council’s call for a halt to the aggression.

It was not evident right away whether the Rwanda-supported rebel coalition had taken control of the entire lakeside city. At the airport, components of the military and U.N. troops stayed, according to residents, a local representative, and a United Nations source. The recent progress of the rebels has displaced thousands in eastern Congo, rich in minerals, and raised concerns that a long-standing, underlying conflict may lead to a wider regional war.

“The city is in disarray; around the airport area, soldiers are visible.” “I haven’t encountered the M23 so far,” a local mentioned to Reuters. “There are also instances of shop looting.”

Residents reported that gunshots were audible close to the airport, city center, and along the border with Rwanda. Tryphon Kin-Kiey Mulumba, the head of the Air Transport Authority, stated that the military continued to oversee the airport.

Unauthenticated videos circulated on social media depicted local inhabitants pillaging goods outside the airport customs depot and groups of heavily armed individuals, thought to be M23 combatants, marching through the northern neighborhoods of the city.

It was difficult to quickly identify who was accountable for the shooting, but one local suggested they were probably warning shots rather than actual combat. The rebels had instructed government soldiers to surrender by 0300 on Monday (0100 GMT), and around 100 Congolese soldiers had given up their weapons to Uruguayan forces in the U.N. peacekeeping operation in Congo (MONUSCO), according to Uruguay’s military.

On Monday morning, MONUSCO personnel and their families were crossing into Rwanda, where 10 buses awaited to transport them.

Kenya’s President William Ruto, who chairs the East African Community bloc, will convene an urgent meeting for heads of state regarding the situation, stated Korir Sing’Oei, the principal secretary at Kenya’s foreign ministry. The eastern border areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation about the size of Western Europe, continue to be a volatile mix of rebel territories and militia domains following two consecutive regional conflicts rooted in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

M23, the most recent in a series of Tutsi-led insurgent groups, claims to be well-trained and equipped to defend the ethnic Tutsi community in Congo. The U.N. Security Council conducted urgent discussions on Sunday regarding the conflict situation, which has led to one of the most severe humanitarian crises globally. U.N. specialists indicate that Rwanda has sent 3,000 – 4,000 soldiers and supplied substantial firepower, such as missiles and snipers, to assist the M23 in combat operations in Congo.

On Sunday, the United States, France, and Britain criticized what they asserted was Rwanda’s support for the rebels’ progress. Kigali rejected comments that “offered no solutions” and held Kinshasa responsible for instigating the recent tensions. The clashes near the Rwandan border continue to pose a significant risk to Rwanda’s security and territorial integrity, requiring Rwanda to maintain a continuous defensive stance,” stated the country’s foreign ministry.