Rwanda-backed rebels take second major city in DRC

Rwanda-backed rebels reached the center of east Congo’s second largest city, Bukavu, Sunday after little resistance from government forces, many of whom fled.

Rwanda-backed rebels reached the center of east Congo’s second largest city, Bukavu, on Sunday morning and took control of the South Kivu province administrative office after little resistance from government forces, many of whom fled the rebels’ advance.

Associated Press journalists witnessed scores of residents cheering on the M23 rebels in central Bukavu on Sunday morning as they walked and drove around the city center after a dayslong march from the region’s major city of Goma 63 miles away, which they captured late last month. Several parts of the city, however, remained deserted with residents indoors.

The M23 rebels are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east, and are supported by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to the U.N.

M23 soldiers frisk residents queuing to enter the Unity Stadium in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, last week during a public gathering called by the armed group. Jospin Mwisha / AFP via Getty ImagesIt was not clear if the rebels had taken decisive control of the city of about 1.3 million people. Their presence in central Bukavu is an unprecedented expansion of the rebels’ reach in their yearslong fighting with Congolese forces. Unlike in 2012 when they only seized Goma in the fighting connected to ethnic tension, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power.

Many Congolese soldiers were seen on Saturday fleeing the rebels’ advance into Bukavu alongside thousands of civilians amid widespread looting and panic.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/rwanda-drc-congo-bukavu-kivu-africa-m23-hutus-tutsis-rcna192381

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