Africa
Rwanda-backed rebels reach east Congo’s 2nd major city
Rwanda-backed rebels reached the center of east Congo’s second largest city, Bukavu, on Sunday morning and took control of the South Kivu province administrative office after little resistance from government forces, many of whom fled the rebels' advance.
Scores of residents cheering on the M23 rebels in central Bukavu on Sunday morning as they walked and drove around the city center after a dayslong march from the region's major city of Goma 63 miles (101 kilometers) away, which they captured late last month. Several parts of the city, however, remained deserted with residents indoors.
The M23 rebels are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east, and are supported by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to the U.N.
Armed fighters have raped scores of children in eastern Congo, UNICEF says
It was not clear if the rebels had taken decisive control of the city of about 1.3 million people. Their presence in central Bukavu is an unprecedented expansion of the rebels' reach in their yearslong fighting with Congolese forces. Unlike in 2012 when they only seized Goma in the fighting connected to ethnic tension, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power.
Many Congolese soldiers were seen on Saturday fleeing the rebels’ advance into Bukavu alongside thousands of civilians amid widespread looting and panic.
Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi held a security meeting in the faraway capital of Kinshasa, where officials noted that Bukavu was “briefly” invaded by M23 but remains under the control of the Congolese army and allies from local militia, the presidency said on X. There were no signs of fighting or of Congolese forces in most parts of Bukavu on Sunday.
Tshisekedi has warned of the risk of a regional expansion of the conflict. Congo's forces are being supported in Bukavu by troops from Burundi and in Goma by troops from South Africa.
Burundi's president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, appeared to suggest his country will not retaliate in the fighting. In a post on X he said that “those people who were ready to get profit of the armed attack of Rwanda to Burundi will not see this.”
The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes M23, said it was committed to “defending the people of Bukavu” in a Saturday statement that did not acknowledge their presence in the city. “We call on the population to remain in control of their city and not give in to panic,” Lawrence Kanyuka, the alliance’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
3 hours ago
Armed fighters have raped scores of children in eastern Congo, UNICEF says
The UN children’s fund on Thursday accused armed men, likely on both sides of the conflict in eastern Congo, of raping scores of children over the past weeks as rebels expand their footprint and push government forces out.
The accusation came as the conflict in the mineral-rich region shows no signs of abating. UNICEF cited reports of the abuses, saying the offenders were apparently from among both the M23 rebels and the government forces fighting them.
"In the North and South Kivu provinces, we are receiving horrific reports of grave violations against children by parties to the conflict, including rape and other forms of sexual violence at levels surpassing anything we have seen in recent years,” UNICEF's Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
“One mother recounted to our staff how her six daughters, the youngest just 12 years old, were systematically raped by armed men while searching for food," Russell added.
Health facilities in the restive region reported during the week from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2 a total of 572 rape cases — more than a fivefold increase compared to the week before, Lianne Gutcher, UNICEF's communication chief in Congo, told The Associated Press.
Of those, 170 of those treated were children, she added.
US aid freeze halts NGO support for displaced Somalis
Armed men perpetrated the rapes but it was unclear what specific armed group or army they belonged to, Gutcher said. “It is suspected that all parties to the conflict committed sexual violence,” she added.
The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are the most prominent among more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east in a decades-long conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. In late January, the rebels captured Goma, the region’s largest city, in a major escalation of the fighting.
Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council launched a commission that will investigate atrocities, including rapes and killings akin to “summary executions” committed by both the Congolese army and the M23 rebels in the region since the beginning of the year.
On Monday, 84 Congolese soldiers accused of murder, rape and other crimes in the country's east went on trial in the city of Bukavu. The city is under the control of government forces but the rebel offensive has inched closer to it recently.
Congo's Health Minister Roger Kamba, meanwhile, said 143 patients who were being treated for mpox fled from Goma’s hospitals as the rebels pushed into the city. Some were found or came back on their own but 110 have not returned.
The minister said the city has also recorded nearly 100 cases of cholera since the rebel offensive started. Goma is now fully under rebel control.
Kamba added that Congolese authorities, with the help of aid groups, were able to send vaccines, medical supplies and medicines to Goma through a humanitarian corridor via neighboring Kenya and Rwanda. He did not provide details.
On Thursday, Congolese musician Delcat Idengo was killed in Goma in what authorities described as an “assassination.” Congo's government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya blamed his death on “Rwanda and its accomplices.” The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the circumstances surrounding the death of the artist, known for his politically charged songs.
2 days ago
US aid freeze halts NGO support for displaced Somalis
In a desolate makeshift camp on the fringes of Somalia's capital, tens of thousands of internally displaced people sit under the baking sun not sure if they can have access to food rations and medication following U.S. President Donald Trump's decree to freeze most of his country's foreign aid.
Trump’s decision, which will remain in force for 90 days following his Jan. 20 executive order, threatens to collapse the humanitarian aid economy that sustains the livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. The U.S. provides more foreign aid globally than any other country, budgeting about $60 billion in 2023, or about 1% of the U.S. budget.
Somalia, a Horn of Africa nation that struggles with a homegrown Islamic extremist insurgency, depends almost entirely on foreign aid to look after people displaced by armed conflict, amounting to 3 million, according to the UN refugee agency. The east African country also grapples with the effects of natural disasters, particularly drought, and food insecurity.
The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, spent $369 million in Somalia in 2021, supporting everything from sanitation programs to emergency nutrition with funds channeled through government and non-governmental groups.
Ayan Ali Hussein, chairwoman of the Dooxdoox IDP camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, said Trump’s order provoked almost immediate stop-work orders addressed to USAID partners, shutting down basic services.
Suddenly “there are no facilities to treat malnourished children,” she said. “Women who had experienced gender-based violence once had access to care, counseling, protection, medication, financial support, and clothing, none of which are available anymore.”
Hussein’s camp looks after eight sites, home to nearly 8,000 households of internally displaced Somalis who will “lack basic items like plastic sheets” for temporary shelter.
The suspension of USAID, “left a huge void in our lives” she said.
One of the camp's residents, an 85-year-old mother of eight, Ruqiya Abdulle Ubeyd, said she was shocked by Trump’s decision and asked "the U.S. government to restore the aid it used to give to vulnerable people,” she said.
Hamas' threat to delay the next release of Israeli hostages raises fears for Gaza ceasefire
The fund freeze has also caused major concern among those in need of urgent medical care, including people with HIV, as it disrupted the work of almost all NGOs in Somalia.
One of the hard-hit organizations is the Somali Young Doctors Association, or SOYDA, a key provider of medical assistance in the camps. Its founder, Dr. Abdiqani Sheikh Omar, previously a top official in Somalia’s health ministry, said the abruptness of Trump’s announcement has destabilized their programs.
In 2025, Somalia was to receive $125 million in USAID support for programs that could now become “null and void,” he said. To cope with funding shortages, his group decided to prioritize critical nutrition and hygiene programs.
Many of his workers also face immediate job losses, and the organization is “engaging our volunteer health professionals to cover this emergency staff funding gap through part-time shifts,” he said.
SODYA also provides medication for people who can’t afford it.
“Previously, whenever our children got sick, we would come straight to (the SODYA) center for help,” said Hussein Abikar, a father of five who lives in the camp with his family.
“There is no other place where we could find such support,” Abikar said.
4 days ago
Hamas' threat to delay the next release of Israeli hostages raises fears for Gaza ceasefire
Hamas' threat to delay the next planned release of Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip has jolted a fragile ceasefire that’s seen as having the potential to wind down the war.
It has brought new dismay for Israelis who watched the latest Hamas handover of hostages in growing horror over the weekend as the three emaciated men came into sight. Of the 17 hostages yet to be released from Gaza under this phase of the ceasefire, Israel has said eight are dead.
The next handover of three hostages had been scheduled for Saturday, and families say time is running out for those still alive. Israel now awaits what comes from a security Cabinet meeting Tuesday morning, moved up in response to Monday's Hamas announcement.
The developments also have led to new fear in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have surged to what remains of their homes in the territory’s north after fleeing in the war’s earliest weeks.
The uncertainty, just over halfway into the ceasefire’s six-week first phase, complicates talks on the far more difficult phase. It also jeopardizes the pause in the devastating fighting and the increase in humanitarian aid for Gaza that it has made possible.
Already, there had been concerns that the war would resume at the end of the first phase in early March.
What happened?
Hamas accused Israel of not holding up its end of the deal by initially delaying the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza over an earlier dispute, carrying out strikes across the territory and hindering the entry of humanitarian aid.
The militant group, which quickly reasserted control over Gaza when the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, said the next hostage release would be delayed “until further notice.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called the delay “a complete violation” of the ceasefire agreement, and he instructed the military to be on highest alert. The prime minister’s coordinator for hostages said the government intends to live up to its end of the deal.
Hamas releases 3 more Israeli hostages for dozens of Palestinian prisoners under Gaza ceasefire
A later Hamas statement called the postponement a “warning signal” to Israel and noted that five days remained for mediators – the United States, Qatar and Egypt -- to pressure Israel to act. “The door remains open for the exchange to proceed as planned if Israel abides by its obligations," it said.
There was no immediate public reaction from mediators.
What’s Trump saying?
The Hamas announcement came as U.S. President Donald Trump pressed further on his stunning proposal to remove the Palestinian population from devastated Gaza and have the U.S. take “ownership” of the territory. He told Fox News on Sunday that the Palestinians would not have the right to return.
That deepened the shock among Palestinians, who live with the history of fleeing or being forced from their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war. And it brought new condemnation from Arab nations that have long pressed for an independent Palestinian state.
Trump’s comments contradicted some of his own administration officials who had said the president was only calling for the Palestinians’ temporary relocation.
The Hamas statements on Monday made no mention of Trump’s proposal, which they have rejected multiple times.
Who and what is at stake?
In immediate limbo is the planned release on Saturday of three more Israeli hostages, along with dozens more Palestinian prisoners from Israeli custody.
Such exchanges – five so far in a gradual release of 33 hostages – have been sometimes tense and chaotic acts of trust that have gradually pushed the ceasefire forward, allowing its other measures to fall into place.
But the latest release brought home like no other the bleak and dangerous conditions for those still held in Gaza.
Israel's Netanyahu heads to US to discuss 'victory over Hamas' with Trump
Relatives of the newly released hostages, at times sobbing, have described people being chained or held underground for months and eating half a piece of pita per day. Freed hostages have described going months without showering.
The accounts have put furious new pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to begin the delayed talks on the ceasefire’s second phase, which is meant to see more hostages released and bring a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
“The hostages are in a clear and present danger. Their lives are at risk,” a doctor working with families of hostages, Hagai Levine, warned Monday. “Delaying their release means that some of them will not survive.”
5 days ago
Summit underway in Tanzania to resolve Congo’s conflict
A joint summit of leaders from eastern and southern Africa is in progress in Tanzania, as African governments seek a resolution to the violent unrest in eastern Congo, where rebels are threatening to topple the Congolese government, reports AP.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose administration is accused of supporting the M23 rebels—who currently control the largest city in eastern Congo—is attending the summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial hub. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi is participating virtually.
773 dead in weeklong fighting as military tries to repel Rwanda-backed rebels: Congo
The summit brings together leaders from the East African Community bloc, which includes both Rwanda and Congo, along with those from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional alliance encompassing countries from Malawi to South Africa.
The M23 insurgency is partly driven by Rwandan concerns that rebels opposing Kagame’s administration have been allowed by Congo’s military to operate in the largely lawless areas of eastern Congo. Kagame also argues that Tshisekedi has failed to address the legitimate grievances of Congolese Tutsis, who face discrimination.
Rwanda has also criticised the deployment of SADC peacekeeping forces against M23 fighters, claiming it has escalated the conflict in North Kivu, a mineral-rich province in eastern Congo. Kagame maintains that the SADC troop presence in eastern Congo is not a peacekeeping effort, as they are actively fighting alongside Congolese forces against the M23.
United Nations experts have reported that approximately 4,000 Rwandan troops are supporting the M23 rebels in North Kivu. The rebels, in their push to seize Goma—the strategically located capital of North Kivu near the Rwandan border—successfully repelled Congolese government troops, who had been reinforced by local militias known as Wazalendo, alongside regional peacekeepers and U.N. forces.
Rwanda-backed rebels take more towns after seizing east Congo's largest city
In his opening remarks, Kenyan President William Ruto addressed summit participants, stating that “the lives of millions depend on our ability to navigate this complex and challenging situation with wisdom, clarity of mind, and empathy.”
“Dialogue is not a sign of weakness,” Ruto, the current East African Community chair, emphasised. “It is in this spirit that we must encourage all parties to set aside their differences and engage in constructive discussions.”
Tshisekedi has previously dismissed calls for direct negotiations with the M23, viewing the group as a Rwandan proxy force intent on exploiting eastern Congo’s vast natural resources.
The M23’s advance has shattered a 2024 ceasefire, reminiscent of their takeover of Goma more than a decade ago. The rebels now claim they will govern the city, which is home to 2 million residents, including hundreds of thousands displaced from the country’s interior.
The insurgents have also vowed to push forward towards Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.
1 week ago
At least 10 Nigerian soldiers are killed in an ambush, the army says
An ambush by a “group of criminals” killed at least 10 Nigerien soldiers near the country’s border with Burkina Faso this week, Niger’s ruling military junta said.
An intervention unit was sent to the west of the country on Monday to catch criminals stealing cattle in Takzat, a village in western Niger, according to a military statement said broadcast on Wednesday night.
“It was during the operation that a group of criminals ambushed the detachment of the internal security forces which resulted in the loss of 10 of our soldiers,” it said. It did not specify who the criminals were.
The attackers managed to flee, but the military caught and neutralized 15 “terrorists” on Tuesday, the statement added.
Niger, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali, has for over a decade battled an insurgency fought by jihadi groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance. The three countries vowed to strengthen their cooperation by establishing a new security alliance, the Alliance of Sahel States.
But the security situation in the Sahel, a vast region on the fringes of the Sahara Desert, has significantly worsened since the juntas took power, analysts say, with a record number of attacks and civilians killed both by Islamic militants and government forces.
Death toll from Nigerian gasoline tanker explosion rises to 86
Ten soldiers were killed and seven others injured in an attack near Niger’s border with Burkina Faso last December, the army said.
The same month, militants of an Islamic State group affiliate — known as Islamic State Sahel Province — likely shot and killed 21 passengers on a bus in the Arboudji village, near the border with Burkina Faso, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data.
1 week ago
Sudan: Paramilitary attack on market kills 54, injures scores
A paramilitary assault on an open market in Omdurman, Sudan, left 54 people dead and at least 158 wounded, health officials reported Saturday.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked Sabrein Market in the latest violent escalation of Sudan’s ongoing civil war. The conflict, which began in April 2023, has devastated the northeastern African nation, AP reports.
There was no immediate response from the RSF regarding the attack.
Government spokesperson Khalid al-Aleisir, who also serves as Sudan’s culture minister, condemned the assault, stating that many women and children were among the victims. He described the attack as a violation of international humanitarian law.
“This criminal act only adds to the militia’s history of brutality,” he said in a statement.
US military conducts airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia
According to Sudan’s Doctors Syndicate, a mortar shell exploded just meters from al-Naw Hospital, which received most of the casualties. The syndicate reported a severe shortage of medical personnel, particularly surgeons and nurses.
Chris Lockyear, secretary general of Doctors Without Borders, was at the hospital when the injured began arriving.
“There are scores of people with devastating wounds, and the morgue is overflowing,” he said. “It’s a horrific scene, another example of this relentless war on civilians.”
A video posted by Al Arabiya TV correspondent Nezar Bogdawi showed body bags lined up outside the hospital and wounded individuals receiving treatment on the floor.
Sudan’s military later announced it had driven RSF fighters out of several areas in Gezira state.
Last week, an RSF assault on a hospital in El Fasher, Darfur, killed around 70 people.
The war has claimed over 28,000 lives, displaced millions, and led to famine. The International Criminal Court is investigating war crimes, while the US has accused the RSF of genocide.
2 weeks ago
US military conducts airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia
The U.S. military has conducted airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the African nation during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday that the strikes by U.S. Africa Command were directed by Trump and coordinated with Somalia's government.
An initial assessment by the Pentagon indicated that “multiple” operatives were killed. The Pentagon said it assessed that no civilians were harmed in the strikes.
Trump, in a post on social media, said a senior IS planner and recruits were targeted in the operation.
“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians. Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did!” Trump said. “The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”
Trump did not identify the IS planner or say whether that person was killed in the strike. White House officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The office of Somalia's president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said the operation “reinforces the strong security partnership” between the two countries in “combating extremist threats.” In a post on X, it said Somalia “remains resolute in working with its allies to eliminate international terrorism and ensure regional stability.”
40 people dead in Kenya and Somalia as heavy rains and flash floods displace thousands
The Pentagon's counterterrorism strategy in Africa has been strained as two key partners, Chad and Niger, ousted U.S. forces last year and took over key bases that the U.S. military had used to train and conduct missions against terrorist groups across the Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert.
U.S. military officials have warned that IS cells have received increasing direction from the group’s leadership that relocated to northern Somalia. That has included how to kidnap Westerners for ransom, how to learn better military tactics, how to hide from drones and how to build their own small quadcopters.
The IS affiliate in Somalia emerged in 2015 as a breakaway faction from al-Shabab, al-Qaida’s East African link, and is most active in Puntland, particularly in the Galgala Mountains, where it has established hideouts and training camps and is led by Abdulkadir Mumin.
While its influence is relatively limited compared to Al-Shabaab, IS in Somalia has been involved in attacks in southern and central Somalia. The group funds its activities through extortion, smuggling, and illicit taxation, particularly in some coastal areas where it has attempted to control local businesses.
Despite facing counterterrorism pressure from Somali security forces, U.S. airstrikes and al-Shabab rivalries, it continues to operate in remote and urban areas, seeking to expand its influence through recruitment and propaganda.
The number of IS militants in the country are estimated to be in the hundreds, mostly scattered in the Cal Miskaat mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, according to the International Crisis Group.
Saturday’s operation followed military airstrikes on Jan. 30 in northwest Syria, killing a senior operative in Hurras al-Din, an al-Qaeda affiliate, U.S. Central Command said.
2 weeks ago
773 dead in weeklong fighting as military tries to repel Rwanda-backed rebels: Congo
At least 773 people were killed in eastern Congo's largest city of Goma and its vicinity this week amid fighting with Rwanda-backed rebels who captured the city in a major escalation of a decadelong conflict, Congolese authorities said Saturday. The rebels' advance into other areas was slowed by a weakened military that recovered some villages from them.
Authorities confirmed 773 bodies and 2,880 injured persons in Goma's morgues and hospitals, Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told a briefing in the capital, Kinshasa, adding that the death toll could be higher.
“These figures remain provisional because the rebels asked the population to clean the streets of Goma. There should be mass graves and the Rwandans took care to evacuate theirs,” said Muyaya.
Hundreds of Goma residents were returning to the city on Saturday after the rebels promised to restore basic services including water and power supply. They cleaned up the neighborhoods littered with debris from weapons and filled with the stench of blood.
"I’m tired and don’t know which way to go. On every corner (there) is a mourner,” said Jean Marcus, 25, one of whose relatives was among those killed in the fighting.
M23 is the most potent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology. They are backed by around 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, far more than in 2012, when they first captured Goma and held it for days in a conflict driven by ethnic grievances.
As the fighting raged on with the M23 rebels Saturday, the Congolese army recaptured the villages of Sanzi, Muganzo and Mukwidja in South Kivu's Kalehe territory, which had fallen to the rebels earlier this week, according to two civil society officials. who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity over fear for their safety.
The central African nation’s military has been weakened after it lost hundreds of troops and foreign mercenaries surrendered to the rebels after the fall of Goma.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, meanwhile, said Friday that the M23 and Rwandan forces were about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of South Kivu’s provincial capital of Bukavu, covering almost the same distance in the previous two days since they started advancing along Lake Kivu on the border with Rwanda. Lacroix said the rebels “seem to be moving quite fast,” and capturing an airport a few kilometers (miles) away "would be another really significant step.”
The seizure of Goma resulted in a dire humanitarian crisis, the U.N. and aid group have said. Goma serves as a humanitarian hub critical for many of the 6 million people displaced by the conflict in eastern Congo. The rebels said they will march all the way to Congo's capital Kinshasa, 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the west.
U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric also told a briefing Friday that the World Health Organization and its partners conducted an assessment with Congo’s government between Jan. 26-30, and reported that 700 people have been killed and 2,800 injured in Goma and the vicinity. Dujarric confirmed to AP that the deaths occurred during those days.
The rebel advance has left in its wake extrajudicial killings and forced conscription of civilians, U.N. human rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence said Friday. “We have also documented summary executions of at least 12 people by M23” from Jan. 26-28, Laurence said, adding that the group has also occupied schools and hospitals in the province and are subjecting civilians to forced conscription and forced labor.
Congolese forces have also been accused of sexual violence as fighting rages on in the region, Laurence said, adding the U.N. is verifying reports that Congolese troops raped 52 women in South Kivu.
Goma’s capture has brought humanitarian operations to “a standstill, cutting off a vital lifeline for aid delivery across eastern (Congo),” said Rose Tchwenko, country director for the Mercy Corps aid group in Congo.
“The escalation of violence toward Bukavu raises fears of even greater displacement, while the breakdown of humanitarian access is leaving entire communities stranded without support,” she said.
2 weeks ago
Rwanda-backed rebels take more towns after seizing east Congo's largest city
Rebels backed by Rwanda captured more towns in eastern Congo on Wednesday as they moved beyond the key city of Goma in an apparent attempt to expand their control in the conflict-battered region.
The rebels advanced toward the center of South Kivu province after taking several towns, including Kalungu, Kanyezire and Mukwinja, according to a local civil society leader and an aid worker in the area. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, AP reports.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the developments were concerning, and that the United Nations was taking measures to protect civilians and UN staff.
The advance also raised fears of a prolonged occupation by the rebels, who have said they plan to set up a new administration in Goma, a city of 2 million people.
“Left unchecked, the fighting could spread ... recalling the horrors of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when millions died,” the Crisis Group said, citing the last, multi-country war there.
Rwanda-backed rebels claim capture of Goma in eastern Congo
Unlike now, the rebels captured Goma only briefly during their first rebellion in 2012, withdrawing after a few days under international pressure on Rwanda.
Meanwhile, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi was conspicuously absent from a virtual summit of a regional East African bloc that began late Wednesday, hosted by Kenya.
Tshisekedi was on an official visit to Angola, which had mediated a ceasefire between Congo and Rwanda last year, the Angolan presidency said in a statement. He was to discuss the situation in eastern Congo with Angola’s President João Lourenço.
Faced with the rebel offensive, soldiers fighting for Congo — many of them mercenaries from other nations — were laying down their weapons at the border with Rwanda. Congo’s army seemed to be in disarray, and those at the border appeared disorganized and ill-equipped for any major fighting.
A rebel spokesman said nearly 300 mercenaries have surrendered their arms and returned to their countries.
“Let the people of Goma be calm, peace is here,” said Willy Ngoma, a spokesman of the M23 group. Ngoma, who is on the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions list for crimes committed by the rebels.
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“It’s like you are fighting without command,” said Jean Marie Ndahambaza, one of the surrendering soldiers.
Armed groups have long vied for control of eastern Congo, which is rich in minerals critical to much of the world’s technology, and has been the scene of proxy battles between Congo and neighboring Rwanda, as well as other powers. Fighting reignited this week, and the rebels backed by Rwanda, known as M23, announced Monday that they had captured much of the provincial capital of Goma.
2 weeks ago