Rwanda-backed rebels have gained ground in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo despite the unilateral ceasefire they declared earlier this week.
The M23 rebels took control of a town 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Bukavu on Wednesday, civil society officials and residents told The Associated Press.
The rebels on Monday announced the ceasefire on humanitarian grounds after pleas for the safe passage of aid and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Nene 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 9am,” said Moise 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 Defence 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 neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts.
The M23 is the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups active in the Democratic Republic of the 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 did not know whether Rwandan military forces were in Congo but said his country would do what is needed to protect itself.
Experts and analysts have expressed concern that Rwanda aims to take control of parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to ensure access to minerals.
Rwanda’s government, meanwhile, has framed the conflict as the defence of ethnic Tutsis in the Democratic Republic of the 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 the Democratic Republic of the 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.
Neighbouring Uganda also has deployed soldiers inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with hundreds in Ituri province in the north-east since 2021 to fight the Allied Democratic Forces, another armed group, with the authorisation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s president.
Colonel Deo Akiiki, deputy spokesman for the Ugandan military, told the AP there had been no new deployments of soldiers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent weeks.
The rebels on Monday said they did not intend to seize Bukavu or other areas, though they earlier expressed ambition to march on the Democratic Republic of the 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 UN 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.
“Our efforts are focused on preventing epidemics, expediting burials, and strengthening medical capacities,” said Jean Jonas Yaovi Tossa from the Goma office of OCHA, the UN humanitarian agency.
“Humanitarian access is severely limited, and it is urgent to establish a humanitarian corridor.”
Meanwhile, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday called for the presentation of information and evidence regarding atrocities committed in the east of the Democratic Republic of the 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.
