Rwanda-backed rebels have seized another town in eastern Congo

[February 06, 2025]  By JUSTIN KABUMBA, JEAN-YVES KAMALE and MONIKA PRONCZUK

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Rwanda-backed rebels gained ground in eastern Congo on Wednesday despite the unilateral ceasefire they declared earlier this week, taking control of a town 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Bukavu, civil society officials and residents told The Associated Press.

Goma remains “under occupation” by Congo’s M23 rebels and the ceasefire they announced has been broken as their forces engage in heavy fighting along the main route to South Kivu’s main city Bukavu, the U.N.’s deputy representative in Congo, Vivian van de Perre said Wednesday. M23 rebels are now approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Bukavu, she added.

The M23 rebels on Monday announced the ceasefire on humanitarian grounds after pleas for the safe passage of aid and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. But Congo's government has described the ceasefire as “false communication," and the United Nations has noted reports of heavy fighting with Congolese forces in the mineral-rich region.

Van de Perre said all exit routes from Goma and its airport are under control of the M23 and Rwandan military forces backing them, and movements of the U.N. peacekeeping force known as MONUSCO in the city have been restricted.

She said reopening the damaged Goma airport is critical for ongoing civilian and humanitarian use. The United Nations is also “gravely concerned” at losing Bukavu’s Kavumu airport, which is now used by Congo’s military, she said.

Néné Bintou, president of the civil society of South Kivu province, told the AP that the mining town of Nyabibwe was under the control of the M23. Nyabibwe is midway between Bukavu and Goma, the city the rebels seized last week and still control.

“They have taken over Nyabibwe since this morning from 9 a.m.," said Moïse Bisimwa, a resident reached by phone. “So we are here, we are worried about the situation. Apparently, the ceasefire that was declared by the M23 is just smoke and mirrors.”

“The RDF/M23 Coalition is violating the unilaterally declared ceasefire and is facing fierce resistance from the FARDC around Nyabibwe,” the Congolese authorities said in a statement. The RDF stands for Rwandan Defense Forces, or Rwanda's military.

“The RDF/M23 unilateral ceasefire was nothing but a Rwandan lie. Troops crossed the great barrier of Goma at night to attack the city of Nyabibwe,” the statement added.

The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts. That’s far more than in 2012 when they briefly captured Goma and then withdrew after international pressure. The M23 is the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups active in Congo’s east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology.

Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, told CNN on Monday that he didn't know whether Rwandan military forces were in Congo but said his country would do what's needed to protect itself.

Experts and analysts have expressed concern that Rwanda aims to take control of parts of Congo to ensure access to minerals. Rwanda's government, meanwhile, has framed the conflict as the defense of ethnic Tutsis in eastern Congo from ethnic Hutu forces linked to the genocide in Rwanda three decades ago that killed some 800,000 Tutsi, moderate Hutus and others.

Rwandan forces have entered Congo in the past while asserting the same aim, helping to fuel what has become one of Africa's longest-simmering wars, with millions of Congolese displaced.

Neighboring Uganda also has deployed soldiers inside Congo, with hundreds in Ituri province in the northeast since 2021 to fight the Allied Democratic Forces, another armed group, with the authorization of Congo's president. Col. Deo Akiiki, deputy spokesperson for the Ugandan military, told the AP there had been no new deployments of soldiers to Congo in recent weeks.

After seizing control of Goma, a provincial capital of 2 million people at the heart of a region home to trillions of dollars in mineral wealth, the rebels were reported to be gaining ground in other areas of eastern Congo and advancing on Bukavu.

The rebels on Monday said they did not intend to seize Bukavu or other areas, though they earlier expressed ambition to march on Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, a thousand miles away. “However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions,” M23 rebel spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said.

In Goma, where the U.N. said almost 2,000 bodies of those killed in the violence were collected by the Red Cross and 787 bodies were still in health care facilities, residents continued to bury their loved ones.

“We expect this number to go up, and there’s still many decomposing bodies in certain areas,” said van de Perre. The situation was “very fluid.”

“The escalating violence has led to immense human suffering, displacement, and a growing humanitarian crisis,” she said.

The U.N.’s humanitarian partners in Congo will be affected and suffer from the U.S. halt to aid funding, as will the International Organization for Migration, she added.

Meanwhile, Congolese authorities issued an international arrest warrant on Wednesday evening against Corneille Nangaa, one of the M23 political leaders.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court also on Wednesday called for the presentation of information and evidence regarding atrocities committed in eastern Congo.

“The Office will continue to investigate alleged crimes committed by any person, irrespective of affiliation or nationality and will not be limited to particular individuals, parties or members of specific groups,” the statement said.

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Kamale reported from Kinshasa, Congo, and Pronczuk from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda contributed to this report.

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