The M23 rebel group has declared the key city of Goma under its control, indicating a major blow to the Congo army and a serious increase in the years of conflict, killing hundreds and killing millions in the Eastern Democratic Republic. Homeless. DRC.
Goma was arrested on Monday after the M23 – which the UN says that neighboring country Rwanda has supported – last week, the Congo’s military positions advanced. Throughout the day, a barrage of bullets and blasts shook the city, which is a regional center for the capital of northern Kiwu province and security and humanitarian efforts.
Hundreds of thousands of residents and first displaced people fled to neighboring cities in panic. Social media footage shows that heavy crowds carry luggage on foot and motorcycles on their heads and backs.
The crisis that resumed in 2022 has displaced millions of citizens in the eastern DRC. According to a recent report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Office, more than 237,000 people were displaced in January alone.
M23’s ambitions and the latest fighting you need to know:
Who are M23 rebels and who backs them?
M23, or March 23, is one of the hundreds of armed groups operating in the East DRC and is trying to control important mineral mines. The group is comprised of fighters and claims to fight for the rights of the DRC minority population. It came in 2012 when a group of DRC Armed Forces separated, complaining of unfamiliar treatment.
The DRC government and the United Nations have accused Rwanda under President Paul Kagame of providing M23 with soldiers and weapons to control the Eastern DRC -rich Eastern DRC. Rwanda denies the allegations and accuses the DRC of sheltering members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which is an anti -Kagam rebel group involved in Rwanda’s genocide in 1994. The UN estimates that Rwanda has 4,000 soldiers in the DRC.
In 2012, M23 first occupied Goma, but the Congo army, with the help of a UN force, pushed the rebels back to the East Hills on the Rwanda border in 2013.
However, the DRC suffered a re -emergence of M23 violence in 2022. Since then the group advanced on Goma, occupied the territory in battles with the Congo army and two peace missions: the UN mission for DRC (Monusco) and the South African Development Community (SADC) I missed. South African soldiers were important as part of the UN mission in the M23 defeat in 2013.
European rent troops from France, Romania and Belarus also support the Congo army.
What happened to the events of Monday?
M23 has intensified its attack on Goma since the beginning of the year, which has occupied nearby towns such as Sake and Minova.
On Friday, Major General Peter Serimami, the military governor of northern Kiyu province, was killed on the next front.
Citizens fled Goma from the occupied areas of M23, though they were not sure of their safety there.
“We’re going to Goma, but I have heard that there are bombs in Goma too, so we don’t know where to go,” Adele Shami told the news agency Associated Press. Others fled to the border crossing with Rwanda, where immigration officials carefully checked the travel documents.
On Saturday, M23 said he would occupy Goma and warned the army and peacekeepers to surrender to 3am (01:00 GMT) on Monday.
At a UN Security Council emergency meeting on Sunday, officials condemned the M23’s advance and confirmed that 13 peacekeepers were killed from Friday to Saturday. South Africa said its nine soldiers were killed in an attempt to stop the M23’s advance on Goma, while the UN said three Malawi soldiers and a Uruguayan were also killed.
UN Special Representative at the DRC Benato Keta said at the meeting that unnecessary UN staff has begun withdrawal but warned that “We’re stuck” As M23 announced the closure of airspace over Goma and roads going to the city were blocked.
Meanwhile, the United States, the United Kingdom and France have warned their citizens to leave Goma because the residents are leaving the city.
How was the arrest of M23 Goma?
On Sunday night, around 10:30 pm (20:30 GMT), M23 fighters entered Goma between heavy shootings and blasts. Residents posted videos on social media in which M23 fighters equipped with heavy weapons are seen wearing military clothing and patrolling the main roads.
According to Sky News reporting, about 100 government troops released their weapons to Uruguayan Monosko troops on Sunday night, while hundreds of European rented troops are also believed to have their weapons after M23 threatened to burn them alive. Handed.
More than a hundred FARDC soldiers have been sheltered in the ‘Sampri Present’ base facilities. [disarmament, demobilization and reintegration) process,” the Uruguay army said in a statement on X on Sunday.
In a statement on Monday, M23 said it had “liberated” Goma and urged those remaining in the city to “remain calm”. The group also ordered Congolese troops to “hand over” their weapons to MONUSCO and gather at the central stadium.
Goma was largely quiet on Monday, but gunfire rang out in parts of the city, including near the airport, in the city centre and on the border, the Reuters news agency reported. Congolese special forces and government-aligned militia were still engaging M23 rebels on the outskirts of the city, residents said.
Corneille Nangaa – the leader of the Congo River Alliance, which includes the M23 – told Reuters on Monday that his forces were in control of Goma. “They [Congolese army soldiers] The surrender has begun, but it takes time, “he said.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the rebels looted and attacked the infrastructure. The news agency AFP reported a jail break in Goma Jail on Monday, after which the jail was torched.
“The arrest of Goma through M23 is a huge blow to DRC officials,” Vincent Rouge, a controlled rescue analyst, told Al Jazeera, adding that the city’s layout and positioning also offers challenges.
“You have a volcano on one side, the lake on the other, and it is very close to the Rwanda border. This means that once you lose Goma, again for the DRC army again on this city It will be very difficult to occupy the military, “he said.
What did the governments of DRC and Rwanda say?
Congo government spokesman Patrick Miaa announced the presence of Rwanda’s army in Goma in a statement posted on X on Monday.
“The government is continuing to work to avoid massacres and the loss of human lives in view of Rwanda’s clear ambitions,” they asked the residents to stay in their homes and abstain from vandalism and looting.
In a video posted on X, he called for the protection of the citizens and said that the DRC is “in a war situation where the news is changing”.
DRC President Felix Tasseki has not yet made any comment.
Foreign Minister Theresa Kekamba Wagner said at a UN Security Council meeting on Sunday that Rwanda’s troops entering the Goma from across the border is a “declaration war” by Rwanda and the DRC is cutting all diplomatic relations. Wagner also called on countries to ban Rwanda.
Rwanda’s UN ambassador, Ernest Rosmosio, did not confirm or deny the claims of the DRC at the meeting, but said that the crisis could have been avoided if the DRC had shown a “real commitment to peace”.
What did other countries say?
Kenyan President William Roto – Chairman of the Regional Block of East African Countries (EAC), which belongs to the DRC and Rwanda, called for an emergency meeting of the EAC leaders by Tuesday, saying that the region’s “violence.” It is an important responsibility to reduce and facilitate dialogue between all parties.
Roto also said that he spoke to Tshisekeedi and Kagame on Sunday evening and the two leaders confirmed attending the EAC meeting.
“This is the best possibility of a ceasefire,” a Goma analyst told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity. “The situation is critical right now because the weapons they are using are not for civil war.”
In progress, Roget said, it seems that M23 and its supporters had a “decisive push” to cut Goma from other Congolis cities to re -supply the way to other Congoles, Rogot said. He said: “The time to push is probably not accidental.”
“One thing we have said for a while is that M23’s central supporter, according to a group of UN experts – is not ready to take the risk of a massive PR response in Rwanda – Goma. But possibly the change in the administration in the United States may have played a role in changing the calculations and thinking that in fact, the diplomatic blow would not be as severe as once, “he said to Al Jazeera. Tell.
At the Security Council meeting, the United States called for a ceasefire and called on Rwanda to withdraw support from M23. The United Nations Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shi warned that the Washington would “consider all the equipment in its authority” to hold those responsible for maintaining the conflict.
Meanwhile, France has supported the DRC. “As Goma is preparing to collapse, France expresses its solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Congo and its territorial integrity. France strongly condemns the attack,” Foreign Minister Jane Noel Barot said on Monday.
What happens next?
All eyes are on Roto because analysts want to see how EAC will try to discuss the ceasefire. Angola violated both sides of the previous ceasefire.
“[Capturing Goma] He holds M23 in a stronger position to continue his aggressive action, “said Rogat. We can see more clashes, further progress in other cities.
Goma’s arrest can dramatically destroy one of Africa’s longest wars and displaced thousands more citizens, analysts say. According to the UN, more than a third of the North Kiyu population is displaced.
An unidentified analyst in Goma told Al Jazeera that diplomatic tensions between Rwanda and South Africa are likely to deepen after the death of peace troops last week, adding: “There will be no normal business between Rwanda and SADC. “”
Already, the two governments have less than a warm relationship: In 2014, the killing of Rwanda’s opponents in South Africa was detected by Kagali, which has temporarily cut diplomatic relations.
Jason Stars, a DRC researcher, said countries like the United States could take action to stop Rwanda’s M23 support. “In the past, donors have used this advantage,” Starns wrote this week in the Financial Times, citing 2012 when the United States and other Western countries withdrew support from Rwanda and when M23 was defeated later –
But “it seems that we are living in a different world, in which migration, business investment, and national concerns are more important than humanitarianism, and where apathy eliminates solidarity,” he wrote.
