Goma, Congo (AP) — Rwandan-backed rebels gained ground in eastern Congo on Wednesday despite the unilateral ceasefire they declared earlier this week, taking control of a city 60 miles (96 kilometers) from the provincial capital of Bukavu, civil society officials and residents told The Associated Press.
The M23 rebels on Monday announced the ceasefire on humanitarian grounds after pleas for the safe passage of aid and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. But Congo's government has described the ceasefire as “false communication," and the United Nations has noted reports of heavy fighting with Congolese forces in the mineral-rich region.
Néné Bintou, president of the civil society of South Kivu province, told the AP that the mining city of Nyabibwe was under the control of the M23. The city is midway between Bukavu and Goma, the city the rebels seized last week and still control.
“They have taken over the city of Nyabibwe since this morning from 9 a.m.," said Moïse Bisimwa, a resident reached by phone. “So we are here, we are worried about the situation. Apparently the ceasefire that was declared by the M23 is just smoke and mirrors.”
After seizing control of Goma, a provincial capital of 2 million people at the heart of a region home to trillions of dollars in mineral wealth, the rebels were reported to be gaining ground in other areas of eastern Congo and advancing on Bukavu.
The rebels on Monday said they did not intend to seize Bukavu or other areas, though they earlier expressed ambition to march on Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, a thousand miles away. “However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions,” M23 rebel spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said.
The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts. That’s far more than in 2012, when they briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure. The M23 are the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups active in Congo’s east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology.
Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, asserted to CNN on Monday that he didn't know whether his military's forces are in Congo but said his country would do what's needed to protect itself.
Experts and analysts have expressed concern that Rwanda aims to take control part of Congo to assure access to minerals. Rwanda's government, meanwhile, has framed the conflict as the defense of ethnic Tutsis in eastern Congo from ethnic Hutu forces linked to the genocide in Rwanda three decades ago that killed some 800,000 Tutsi, moderate Hutus and others.
Rwandan forces have entered Congo in the past while asserting the same aim, helping to fuel what has become one of Africa's longest-simmering wars, with millions of Congolese displaced.
Neighboring Uganda also has deployed soldiers inside Congo, with hundreds in Ituri province in the northeast since 2021 to fight the Allied Democratic Forces, another armed group, with the authorization of Congo's president. Col. Deo Akiiki, deputy spokesman for the Ugandan military, told the AP there had been no new deployments of soldiers to Congo in recent weeks.
In Goma, where Congolese authorities have said over 2,000 have been killed since the city was seized, residents continued to bury bodies.
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, has called for the urgent reopening of the airport in Goma, calling it “a lifeline” for the evacuation of wounded people and the delivery of aid.
Kamale reported from Kinshasa, Congo, and Pronczuk from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda contributed to this report.