Militiamen from the M23 rebel group, with the support of Rwandan soldiers, entered the city of Goma last Sunday, as acknowledged by the Congolese Government. Its spokesman, Patrick Muyaya, confirmed this Monday on the X network the “presence of the Rwandan Army” in Goma and asked the population to stay at home and refrain from committing acts of vandalism. M23 itself also assured in a statement that the capital of North Kivu was under its control, although clashes have occurred in different neighborhoods of the city and there are still pockets of resistance from Congolese soldiers and their allies. Congo claims that Rwanda has declared war on it.
The advance on Goma of the M23 with the support of thousands of Rwandan soldiers. Residents in the city have shared videos on social networks in which the rebels are seen patrolling the streets to the joy of the population. The rebel group has asked the inhabitants of Goma, in a statement, to remain calm after their “liberation.” Thousands of people have tried to flee to Rwanda, but the border between the two countries was closed this Monday, according to diplomatic sources, and only United Nations personnel were allowed through. Several Congolese military units have handed over their weapons to the UN and have been quartered in one of its bases, according to the same sources.
The situation is chaotic in Goma, a city of one million inhabitants. At the same time that clashes are taking place in certain points, water and electricity are cut off (according to the company Virunga Energies, which supplies the city), and local media report that most of the businesses are closed and that there has been a massive leak. from the Munzenze prison, where some 3,000 people were imprisoned. The airport, which the rebels claim to have taken over, is unusable, according to Bintou Keita, head of the UN Mission for the Stabilization of Congo (MONUSCO), during the UN security council meeting on Sunday. “It cannot be used for evacuations or humanitarian efforts,” he said.
With UN personnel in full withdrawal and the Rwandan border closed, there are fears for the humanitarian care of hundreds of thousands of displaced people. UN sources assure that the World Food Plan (WFP) no longer operates in the area, that at least two hospitals have been bombed and that several headquarters of humanitarian aid organizations have been attacked.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has once again called on Rwandan forces to cease their support for the M23 and to withdraw from the territory of the DRC. The UN security council has condemned the “shameless disregard” of Congolese sovereignty and territorial integrity by “external forces” that have penetrated the DRC. Diplomatic sources have confirmed that several bombs have fallen in displaced persons camps located around Goma, causing the death of at least ten people and dozens of injuries.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, held telephone interviews with the Congolese president, Félix Tshisekedi, and the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, during the weekend and has called, through a statement, “for the immediate end of the M23 offensive and of the Rwandan forces as well as their withdrawal from Congolese territory.”
The Congolese Foreign Minister, Thèrese Kayiwamba, assured this weekend that Rwanda’s support for the M23 rebels in their advance on Goma was “a declaration of war.” For its part, the Rwandan Government rejected in a statement “the erroneous and manipulated official reactions” and accused, in turn, Kinshasa and its allies, the Wazalendo, and the Burundian Army, of having violated the ceasefire.
The President of Kenya, William Ruto, has called an extraordinary summit of the East African Community in the next 48 hours, to which Tshisekedi and Kagame have been invited to participate. Likewise, the peace and security council of the African Union (AU) plans to meet urgently tomorrow.
