M23 rebels occupy second major city in Democratic Republic of the Congo’s east
Bukavu was abandoned by Congolese forces.
Rwanda-backed rebels have occupied a second major city in the mineral-rich east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the government said, as M23 rebels confirmed they were in Bukavu to restore order after it was abandoned by Congolese forces.
The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes the M23, said its fighters “decided to assist the population of Bukavu” in addressing its security challenges under the “old regime” in the city of 1.3 million people.
“Our forces have been working to restore the security for the people and their property, much to the satisfaction of the entire population,” alliance spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.
The rebels saw little resistance from government forces against the unprecedented expansion of their reach after years of fighting.
Congo’s government vowed to restore order in Bukavu, but there was no sign of soldiers. Many were seen fleeing on Saturday alongside thousands of civilians.
The M23 are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of eastern Congo’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that is critical for much of the world’s technology.
The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to United Nations experts.
Bernard Maheshe Byamungu, one of the M23 leaders who has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council for rights abuses, stood in front of the South Kivu governor’s office in Bukavu and told residents they have been living in a “jungle”.
“We are going to clean up the disorder left over from the old regime,” Mr Byamungu said, as some in the small crowd of young men cheered the rebels on to “go all the way to Kinshasa”, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, nearly 1,000 miles away.
The communications ministry acknowledged for the first time that Bukavu had been “occupied”, saying on social media that the national government was “doing everything possible to restore order and territorial integrity” in the region.
One Bukavu resident, Blaise Byamungu, said the rebels marched into the city that had been “abandoned by all the authorities and without any loyalist force”.
“Is the government waiting for them to take over other towns to take action? It’s cowardice.”
Unlike in 2012, when the M23 briefly seized Goma and withdrew after international pressure, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power.
Many Hutus fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the genocide and founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group.
Rwanda says the militia group is “fully integrated” into the Congolese military, which denies this.
But the new face of the M23 in the region – Corneille Nangaa – is not Tutsi, giving the group “a new, more diverse, Congolese face, as M23 has always been seen as a Rwanda-backed armed group defending Tutsi minorities,” according to Christian Moleka, a political scientist at the Congolese think tank Dypol.
President Felix Tshisekedi, whose government on Saturday asserted that Bukavu remained under its control, has warned of the risk of a regional expansion of the conflict.
The military are being supported in Goma by troops from South Africa and in Bukavu by troops from Burundi.
But Burundi’s president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, appeared to suggest on social media his country would not retaliate in the fighting.
The conflict was high on the African Union summit’s agenda in Ethiopia over the weekend, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning it risks spiralling into a regional conflagration.
Still, African leaders and the international community have been reluctant to take decisive action against M23 or Rwanda, which has one of Africa’s most powerful militaries. Most continue to call for a ceasefire and a dialogue between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the rebels.
