Antonio Guterres urged M23 rebels to immediately cease all hostilities as thousands of civilians flee Goma in eastern DRC.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has called on Rwandan forces to withdraw from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and stop supporting M23 fighters who are advancing on the key city of Goma in the east of the country.
Guterres said in a statement on Sunday that he “strongly condemns the ongoing offensive by the M23 armed group and the advance towards Goma in North Kivu with the support of the Rwandan Defense Forces”.
“He calls on M23 to immediately cease all hostilities and withdraw from occupied territories. He further calls on the Rwandan Defense Forces to stop supporting M23 and withdraw from DRC territory.” Done,” the statement said.
The DRC and the United Nations accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 (March 23 Movement) rebels, a charge Kigali denies.
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council later on Sunday, the DRC called for sanctions against Rwanda, saying its forces had entered its territory in what amounted to a “declaration of war”.
“More Rwandan troops are crossing the 12th and 13th border posts between Goma (in DRC) and Gisenyi (in Rwanda) into our territory in open and deliberate violation of our national sovereignty, ” said Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kaykwamba Wagner.
“This is a frontal attack, a declaration of war that will no longer hide behind diplomatic artifice,” he said, and called on the Security Council to “take measures, including asset freezes and travel bans, not only against China Targeted sanctions should be imposed against identified members of the Rwandan armed forces, but also against the political decision-makers responsible for the aggression.
France and Britain also pressed Rwanda’s role in recent fighting around the city of Goma in eastern DRC.
France’s UN ambassador called on Rwanda to withdraw its troops from DRC territory, while Britain called for an end to attacks on peacekeepers by M23 rebels who were receiving support from Rwanda.
The meeting was held a day ahead of schedule after three UN peacekeepers from Uruguay and South Africa were killed in eastern DRC.
Seven other South African soldiers and three from Malawi were serving in a separate South African mission this week, South African and UN officials said.
Rebels are approaching Goma.
M23 fighters closed in on Goma on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of civilians and grounding flights from the local airport as government forces battled to prevent the rebels from taking over the city.
The M23 rebel movement has made rapid advances this month in the DRC’s mineral-rich but conflict-ridden eastern border regions, raising fears that the fighting could spill over into a regional war.
M23 fighters began advancing on Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and home to about one million people, earlier this week, vowing to capture the city.
Residents told Reuters news agency that gunshots and artillery fire had been heard on the outskirts of the city since early Sunday morning, causing panic in some areas.
By mid-afternoon, the rebels were closing in on Goma’s airport, two government soldiers told the agency.
Airport officials said flights are no longer operating. The United Nations told staff in Goma on Sunday not to go to the airport and stay in shelters.
The DRC cut all diplomatic ties with Rwanda in the wake of this week’s rebel offensive.
Two successive regional wars, beginning with the 1994 Rwandan genocide, have left eastern Congo a tinderbox of rebel enclaves and warlord fiefdoms.
Three years into their current conflict, the rebels now control more Congolese territory than ever before.
Well-trained and professionally armed, M23 – the latest in a long line of Tutsi-led rebel movements – says it exists to protect the DRC’s ethnic Tutsi population.
