Rebels supported by Rwanda marched to the center of the largest city in East of Congo on Monday (27), witnesses said, on the latest climbing of decades of conflict in a region that already suffers one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
The Rebel Alliance, led by Tutsi’s M23 Militia M23, commented that he had captured the whole city by the lake, but this could not be confirmed independently.
Shots were heard near the airport, city center, and border with Rwanda, with two residents reporting in progress between government -aligned militias and M23 combatants.
“There is confusion in the city. Here near the airport, we see soldiers. I haven’t seen the M23, ”a resident told Reuters by telephone, asking not to be identified. “There are also some cases of looting store.”
The Eastern Border Lands of the Democratic Republic of Congo are a barrel of gunpowder of rebel and militias fierce resulting from two regional wars after the 1994 Rwanda genocide, when extremists Hutus murdered about 1 million tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The M23, the latest of a long line of rebel movements led by Tutsis supported by Rwanda, captured Gum in 2012, but retired days after an agreement brokered by neighboring nations.
Armed groups in the country
Congo has more than 100 armed groups, especially in eastern 100 million Central African nation, which is approximately the size of Western Europe and has abundant mineral supplies in the sights of Chinese and Western companies.
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, which includes the M23, spoke to Reuters on Monday that his forces were in control of the city of Gum and that army soldiers were testifying the weapons.
“They started to surrender, but it takes time,” he said. “It’s normal for them (residents) to still see soldiers.”
However, Tryphon Kin-Kiey Mulumba, president of the air transport authority, said that the army was still controlling the airport.
The Uruguayan army commented that 100 Congolese soldiers handed them weapons into the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (Monusco), as requested by the rebels.
There were no immediate comments from the Government or Army of Congo.
UN team is removed
The UN team and their families were being removed to Rwanda on the morning of Monday (27), where ten buses were waiting to pick them up.
Videos shared on unqualified social networks have shown locals looting goods outside the airport’s customs deposit and columns of strongly armed men, who is believed to be combatants of the M23, walking through the northern suburbs of the city.
Twenty -six Congolese soldiers and one policeman crossed the border and surrendered, reported Rwandan soldiers to Reuters.
Thousands of residents of the Gisenyi border town in Rwanda fled to the east, towards the capital Kigali, while the sound of the gum explosions was higher, according to a Reuters reporter.
Town
The drop in gum in 2012 led to the implementation of a new UN force with offensive mentality, a reformulation of the Congolese army and diplomatic pressure on Rwanda, leading to the defeat of M23 the following year and an agreement asking for its demobilization.
But the group has never fully disarmed and launched a new offensive in 2022 that saw him capture vast areas of Northern Kivu Rich Mineral Province, including profitable mines that produce Coltan, a metallic ore used in smartphones.
Well -trained and professionally armed, the M23 says it exists to protect the Tutsi population from Congolese government and the Hutus ethnic militias.
UN experts say that Rwanda sent from 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers and provided significant firepower, including missiles and shooters, to support the M23.
The advance of the rebels since the beginning of the year forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes, in addition to the 3 million displaced in eastern Congo in 2024, according to the UN.
The UN Security Council talked about the crisis on Sunday, with the United States, France and Britain, condemning what they said was Rwanda’s support to the rebel advance.
Kigali rejected statements that “did not provide any solution” and accused the Congolese government of sabotaging negotiations with M23 and supporting 1994 genocide Hutus militiamen.
“Fight near the border with Rwanda continues to represent a serious threat to the country’s safety and territorial integrity, and needs a sustained defensive posture,” said the Rwanda Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Kenya President William Ruto, president of the East African Community bloc, would hold an emergency meeting for heads of the state.
This content was originally published in rebels say they have captured the largest city in east of Congo on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil

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