Local officials and witnesses report that rebels enter the second largest city of Eastern DRC after rapid progress.
The M23 rebels supported in Rwanda entered Bukava, the second largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after being rapidly progressing in the country.
A local official, a safety source and five witnesses reported that they saw the rebels there on Sunday, while a spokesman for the militia told the Reuters news agency: “We are there.”
The armed group has progressed in the capital of South Kiva Province since it has taken away the city of Gom at the end of January. The fall of Bukavua, if confirmed, would represent the most significant spread of the territory under the control of the M23 since the last armed rebellion began in 2022.
M23 Willy Ngoma spokesman said in a telephone message that a group was in town.
The Congolian army did not immediately respond to the commentary request.
“I see my own eyes that M23 enters our city,” said a local official, speaking, on a condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Claude Bisimwa, a resident of Bukavu, was transporting the bodies of two killed men who are bullets “on the inside … their house”.
“They were in their room. We take their bodies to the morgue. These were not a stray bullet – the soldier did so out of his own will,” Bisimwa told Al Jazeera.
As Panika passed through the city, there were reports of a wide robbery, including in the warehouse of the World Food Program, while thousands of civilians escaped.
A day earlier, the rebels took control of the Kavuma airport that had served noise. They allegedly faced minimal resistance as they progressed through the city.
The airport was the last significant military barrier for rebel forces before reaching Bukavu, a city of more than one million people.
Development comes while the Summit of the African Union (Au) continues in Ethiopia. The DRC conflict was a key topic of discussion at an annual two-day meeting.
Addressing the summit, the head of the United Nations Antonio Guterres said that “regional escalation must be avoided at all costs” and the “territorial integrity” of DRC must be preserved.
AU has been criticized for its timid approach, and observers have demanded more crucial effects on the conflict.
Rwanda denies the giving of military support for the M23, but accused the hardline of Hardline Hutu in DrC for threatening her safety. The UN expert report states that Kigali held about 4,000 soldiers in Drc -Ui de facto last year controlled the rebel group.
