Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo:

Rwanda-backed rebels on Monday claimed they captured Goma, the largest city in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the United Nations reported “mass panic” among its 2 million residents. The city’s capture came after a 48-hour deadline imposed by M23 rebels for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons expired. 

The rebel alliance, spearheaded by the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 militia, announced the coup d’etat in a statement, urging residents of Goma to remain calm. Meanwhile, the government in Congo said the rebel advance was a “declaration of war,” according to a report by the Associated Press. 

What is Happening In Congo

M23 fighters and 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers had been laying siege to Goma for several days, advancing in the heart of the mineral-rich region and threatening to dramatically worsen one of Africa’s longest wars and further displace civilians.

The Congolese armed forces appear to have been overwhelmed by the offensive, and Uruguay’s army said in a statement that some units had begun to surrender by handing over their weapons to UN peacekeepers in Goma.

According to a report by AFP, large explosions and gunfire were heard in central Goma on Monday morning. As chaos descended on the city, there was also a mass prison break from a torched prison which resulted reportedly in “deaths”.

Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance that includes the M23, told Reuters on Monday that his forces were in control of Goma and that army soldiers were laying down arms.

Meanwhile, the Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya posted a video on X, calling for the protection of civilians and saying that the country is “in a war situation where the news is changing.”

On Sunday, The UN Security Council held crisis talks with the United States, France and Britain condemning what they said was Rwanda’s backing of the rebel advance. 

But, Rwanda dismissed statements that “did not provide any solutions” and accused the Congolese government of sabotaging negotiations with the M23 and supporting Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 genocide.

Kinshasa rejects these allegations. Congo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner called on the Security Council to impose a “total embargo on the export of all minerals labelled as Rwandan, in particular gold”.

Meanwhile, the UN staff and their families were evacuated to Rwanda on Monday, where 10 buses were waiting to pick them up. The border between Rwanda and DRC near the Goma remained closed on Monday, as the United States, France, the UK and Germany called on their citizens to leave the city.

DRC Conflict

The eastern borderlands of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are a tinderbox of rebel and militia fiefdoms stemming from two regional wars after Rwanda’s 1994 genocide when Hutu extremists murdered close to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The M23 (or March 23 Movement), the latest in a long line of Tutsi-led rebel movements backed by Rwanda, captured Goma in 2012 but withdrew days later after an agreement brokered by neighbouring nations.

Congo has more than 100 armed groups, mainly in the east of the central African nation of 100 million people which is roughly the size of Western Europe and has plentiful mineral supplies in the sights of Chinese and Western companies.

According to a United Nations report, over a third of the population of North Kivu province, where Goma is located, is currently displaced. 

About M23 Rebels 

The 2012 fall of Goma led to the deployment of a new offensive-minded U.N. force, an overhaul of the Congolese army, and diplomatic pressure on Rwanda, leading to the M23’s defeat the next year and a deal calling for its demobilisation.

But the group never fully disarmed and launched a fresh offensive in 2022 that has seen it capture vast swathes of mineral-rich North Kivu province, including lucrative mines that produce coltan, which is used in smartphones.

Well-trained and professionally armed, M23 says it exists to protect Congo’s Tutsi population from the Congolese government and ethnic Hutu militias. U.N. experts say Rwanda has deployed 3,000-4,000 troops and provided significant firepower, including missiles and snipers, to support the M23.

The rebels’ advance since the start of the year has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes, on top of 3 million displaced in east Congo in 2024, according to the UN.
 

Members of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) ride on a pickup truck as they secure the evacuation of non-essential UN staff, following the fight between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Nine South African soldiers have been killed in eastern Congo’s conflict zone, the South African defence department said on Saturday (January 25, 2024), as Congolese troops and peacekeepers battled to stop an advance by Rwanda-backed rebels on the city of Goma.

Democratic Republic of Congo and its allies earlier repelled an overnight advance on the provincial capital of over 1 million people, two army sources said. The sound of nearby heavy bombardment rocked the city in the early hours.

The three-year M23 insurgency in Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich east has intensified in January with rebels seizing control of more territory than ever before, prompting the U.N. to warn of the risk of a broader regional war.

As of Friday, two days of fierce fighting had killed two Southern Africans deployed with the U.N. peacekeeping mission and seven others in the Southern African regional bloc’s force in Congo, the South African National Defence Force said in a statement.

“The members put up a brave fight to prevent the rebels from proceeding to Goma as was their intention,” it said, adding that the M23 had been pushed back.

The deaths follow an escalation in hostilities that also led to the killing of North Kivu’s military governor on the front line this week.

The situation appeared calm in Goma on Saturday with people tentatively going about their business amid a heavy police presence, Reuters reporters there said.

The Congolese government and army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the fighting in the area.

The United Nations said on Saturday it had started temporarily relocating its non-essential staff from Goma due to the deteriorating security situation in the province.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FLEE

Congo, the U.N. and others accuse neighbouring Rwanda of fuelling the conflict with its own troops and weapons. Rwanda denies this, but the surge in fighting has prompted renewed calls for it disengage.

“Rwanda must cease its support for the M23 and withdraw,” the European Union said in a statement on Saturday.

The Rwandan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The M23 briefly managed to take over Goma during a previous rebellion in 2012, prompting international donors to cut aid to Rwanda. Even then, the rebels did not hold as much ground as they do now.

The insecurity has also deepened eastern provinces’ already dire humanitarian situation with 400,000 more people forced to flee their homes this year alone, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

“The situation facing Goma’s civilians is becoming increasingly perilous and the humanitarian needs are enormous,” Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Monday to discuss the crisis.