Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have tightened their grip on Goma, the biggest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), signalling a major blow to the Congolese army and a serious escalation in a years-long conflict that has seen hundreds of people killed and millions displaced.
March 23 Movement (M23) fighters entered Goma on Sunday and claimed to have taken control of the city a day later. Three days of clashes between Congolese armed forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have killed more than 100 people and wounded nearly 1,000 people in Goma.
On Wednesday, while fighting in the city had largely eased, intermittent gunfire continued in the Goma’s northern areas, including Katoyi, Mabanga, Majengo, Kibwe and Turunga, where the situation “remains tense”, according to local DRC media outlets.
In a post on X, Bertrand Bisimwa, the head of M23’s political wing, said the group’s fighters were in the process of bringing “the last pockets of insecurity [in Goma] … under control”.
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“Our army is working hard to guarantee total security, complete tranquility and definitive peace, as is the case for all their compatriots living in liberated zones,” Bisimwa said.
As residents in Goma emerged from their homes on Wednesday, they saw the M23 armed group and Rwandan troops had seized the airport and were controlling most of the city centre and neighbourhoods.
“After days of heavy fighting, there’s no audible sound of gunfire in the city centre and the streets normally packed with cars during rush hour and the bustling markets are relatively empty,” Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb said, reporting from Kenya, citing Goma residents.
Speaking to AFP news agency by phone, Rwanda’s regional ambassador Vincent Karega said the armed group would not stop its offensive at Goma.
“They [M23] will continue into South Kivu, because Goma cannot be an end on its own, unless in between they get good dialogue and negotiation with the government in Kinshasa, which I doubt.”
He added that it is “possible” M23 fighters could press beyond eastern DRC because DRC’s “forces and military capabilities” are “concentrated in Goma”.
Five diplomatic and security sources told the news agency Reuters that M23 fighters were on Wednesday advancing south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.
The report could not be independently verified.
Humanitarian crisis
Several international aid groups have raised the alarm over the humanitarian situation in the Congolese city, with the United Nations warning of potential mass displacement, severe food shortages, overburdened hospitals and disease outbreaks.
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Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) said in a statement that its team in Goma also continues to treat the influx of wounded at Kyeshero Hospital.
“At Kyeshero Hospital, a bullet pierced the roof of the operating theatre during an operation,” said Virginie Napolitano, MSF’s emergency coordinator in North Kivu.
“Several of our stocks of equipment and medicines have been looted, jeopardising our medical assistance inside and outside Goma. Armed looting has also affected our colleagues in Goma. One of them was wounded by gunshot in his home during an attack.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also expressed alarm over the “devastating” impact on civilians of the fighting in and around Goma.
“We are getting a large number of calls from injured and wounded people who feel lost and abandoned. Humanitarian workers must have safe access to meet people’s most urgent needs, such as food, healthcare, electricity and safe drinking water,” said Francois Moreillon, head of the ICRC’s delegation in the DRC, calling on the parties to the conflict to abide by international humanitarian law.
The World Food Programme’s spokesperson Shelley Thakral said that “depending on the duration of violence, the supply of food into the city could be severely hampered”.
M23 is one of the hundreds of armed groups operating in the eastern DRC. The DRC, the UN and several other countries have accused Rwanda of supporting the group, which Kigali denies.
The group is comprised of Tutsi fighters and claims it is fighting for the rights of the DRC’s minority Tutsi population. It emerged in 2012 after a group from the armed forces of the DRC (FARDC) broke away, complaining of ill-treatment.
In 2012, the M23 captured Goma and controlled it for about a week before surrendering it after mounting international pressure on Rwanda, including the suspension of aid from the United States and United Kingdom.
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However, the DRC faced a resurgence of M23 violence in 2022. The group has since advanced on Goma, seizing territory in battles with the Congolese army and two peacekeeping missions: the UN mission to the DRC (MONUSCO) and the South African Development Community (SADC) mission in the DRC.
The DRC and the head of the UN peacekeeping mission claim Rwandan troops are active in Goma, supporting M23. But Rwanda has said it is defending itself against the threat from Congolese militias, without directly addressing whether its troops have crossed the border.
Growing calls for ceasefire
The US and European nations have called for a ceasefire, while some countries including Belgium have also issued DRC travel advisories. The UN has urged Rwanda to stop supporting M23.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and “urged for an immediate ceasefire” in the region.
Kagame acknowledged “the need to ensure a ceasefire in eastern DRC and address the root causes of the conflict once and for all”.
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, however, will not attend an emergency virtual meeting with Kagame that had been scheduled for Wednesday, according to Congolese state media.
He is instead expected to address the nation on Wednesday, in his first public statement since M23 entered Goma, according to state broadcaster RTNC.
Al Jazeera’s Webb said that the situation will remain tough for Goma citizens until the fighting completely stops.
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“Over the last couple of days, thousands of people have crossed to Gisenyi, the adjoining city in neighbouring Rwanda. Many others have remained in Goma,” he said.
He noted that the electricity has been off for at least five days now, and the internet has also been cut off in most places.
“Certainly for many people … times are very tough,” he added.
The International Crisis Group (ICG), a global think tank aimed at resolving deadly conflict, also released a statement on the violence in eastern DRC, saying negotiation is desperately needed to stop bloodshed from spreading.
“Left unchecked, the fighting could spread throughout the Great Lakes region, recalling the horrors of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when millions died amid a multi-country war in the Congo,” it said.
The ICG also suggested that a possible way to pull back from the brink is for East African leaders to propose a compromise: M23 withdraws from Goma and an “alternative African force, possibly mandated from the East African Community, [takes] administrative control of the city” during negotiations.
