Rwanda-backed rebels are advancing on a third city in eastern Congo, residents say
Rwanda-backed rebels appeared to be heading toward a third major city in eastern Congo, residents said Tuesday, as international pressure rose over the M23’s expansion in a mineral-rich region that’s critical for global technology.
DAKAR, Senegal — Rwanda-backed rebels appeared to be heading toward a third major city in eastern Congo, residents said Tuesday, as international pressure rose over the M23’s expansion in a mineral-rich region that is critical for global technology.
The M23 rebels on Tuesday attacked all the main Congolese army positions on the road to Butembo, a city of 150,000 people, and the situation was rapidly deteriorating, said Auguste Kombi, a civil society leader in Kitsombiro, a town along the road.
“We’re afraid that the enemy will advance to Butembo,” Kombi said.
Butembo is about 130 miles north of Goma, the city of over 2 million people that the M23 rebels seized last month as about 3,000 people were killed.
The advance on Butembo means the rebels are spanning out both north and south of Goma. The rebels this week seized another provincial capital to Goma’s south, Bukavu, near Burundi. The region is rich in gold and coltan, a key mineral for the production of capacitors used in most consumer electronics such as laptops and smartphones.
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