A Rwanda-backed rebel militia has announced the capture of the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a major victory for the group and one of the most significant escalations in the conflict between the two countries in years.
The militia, known as M23, briefly occupied Goma once before, in 2012, before being defeated and dormant for nearly a decade. Now it has returned again with the aim of occupying the region in the long term and exploiting its valuable rare minerals, according to United Nations experts.
This time, M23 appears to be in a stronger position to hold on to Goma, a city made up mostly of people who fled their homes in fear and will now have to live under the rule of one of the armed groups they fled.
M23 spokesperson announced “liberating the city of Goma” in a post on X, saying Congolese military personnel must surrender their weapons to the UN and gather at the stadium before 3am. However, there was no confirmation that it had been completed yet, and there were scattered reports of gunfire in the city on Monday morning.
The conflict in eastern Congo—an area about the size of Michigan—was once called Africa’s World War. It has been going on since the 1990s, and includes dozens of armed groups, of which M23 is currently dominant.
The rebels plan to seize and exploit the region in the long term, according to the UN and the United States, which say the group is funded and led by Congo’s much smaller neighbor, Rwanda. Rwanda rejects the accusations.
rebels advance towards Gomawhich began with an offensive in the region launched this month, has escalated rapidly over the past three weeks, sending people fleeing to – and from – the city.
On Sunday morning, thousands of people arrived in Goma from areas north of the city, some carrying what little belongings they could grab in pieces of cloth tied around their foreheads, others carrying babies only a few days old. Many were already displaced and were fleeing the bombs that fell near the camp. Others fled their villages caught in the crossfire between the M23 and the Congolese armed forces.
Camps on the outskirts of Goma that housed more than 300,000 people were completely emptied in a few hours, the UN said.
On Friday, the military governor of North Kivu, the province of which Goma is the capital, was mortally wounded on the battlefield, according to a Congolese army spokesman. The circumstances of his death remained unclear, but a spokesman said the governor, General Peter Cirimwami, died while being evacuated to Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.
On Saturday, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Goma evacuated many of its staff members from the city, putting them on buses to the airport with plans to fly to Entebbe, in neighboring Uganda.
In 2012, Rwanda came under intense international pressure to stop supporting M23, and as a result, the militia was defeated the following year. But it is unclear whether such pressure can be exerted again, experts say. Rwanda has since built up its relations with Western countries and has become less dependent on aid.
At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Sunday, the United States and other members condemned Rwanda’s actions but did not call for sanctions. Bintou Keita, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, told the meeting that three peacekeepers were killed trying to protect Goma and the nearby town, Saké, from the M23 advance. She also said the rebels had closed the airspace over Goma.
“In other words, we’re trapped,” she said.
As the rebels advanced towards Goma, the already dire humanitarian situation became even worse. More than 400,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of this year, according to UN figures. refugee agencywhile M23 rebels attacked new areas of North Kivu province, where Goma is, and South Kivu. They joined 4.6 million people who had already been displaced in eastern Congo.
And yet, people poured into Goma, often in long lines.
Some were pushing carts with a few salvaged items. Some had bicycles or carried mattresses on their heads and backs. Many of them had life-threatening injuries.
Myriam Favier, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross sub-delegation in Goma, said on Friday that the day before, more than 100 people had arrived within 24 hours at the hospital where she worked – the number of people who arrive in an entire month.
“They come from everywhere,” she said. “They come from all over.”
Ms Favier described medical staff treating patients with mortar or shrapnel wounds and said the number of minors with serious injuries was on the rise. She urged those using heavy artillery to scale back their attacks, saying so many people were arriving with head and chest injuries that the hospital was running out of beds and had to place patients on mattresses in the parking lot.
Throughout Goma, schools have been turned into shelters for displaced persons. Families stocked up on what they could so they wouldn’t have to go out.
Many people who fled sought refuge in Goma, knowing that the rebels were in sight, but had no other choice.
When the city fell to the M23, they hid where they could, many of them hungry, frozen or badly injured. Some slept on the street, others in hospitals.
Solange Safi Ndakwinja was trying to take care of her three daughters, who were seriously injured by a bomb that exploded at a military checkpoint.
“I hope God will help us,” Ms Ndakwinja said. “For the rest, we don’t know what will happen.”
Elian Peltier contributed reporting from Dakar, Senegal, and Declan Walsh from Nairobi, Kenya.
