As a result of a critical gathering of neighbors, the Congolese authorities called on young people to register heavily in the army to combat Rwanda-backed rebels who were attempting to capture more territory in the south. ” Rwanda’s president also threatened to” package” with any clash from South Africa regarding the conflict.
Late on Wednesday, President Felix Tshisekedi promised a “vigorous and coordinated response to drive up the rebels while reaffirming his devotion to a quiet quality,” in his first public remarks since the M23 insurgents advanced into northeast Congo’s largest city, Goma, on Monday. He urged young people to enlist heavily in the army because you are the spearhead of our nation.
The M23 rebels in eastern Congo are backed by some 4, 000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts, far more than in 2012 when they first captured Goma. They are one of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east with vast deposits, estimated to be worth$ 24 trillion and critical to much of the world’s technology.
A summit of the regional East African bloc, meanwhile, called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in eastern Congo and” strongly urged” Tshisekedi’s government to hold talks with the rebels. Tshisekedi was unmistakably absent from Rwanda’s, who is also a member, virtual summit.
By Thursday morning, the rebels were moving even further into South Kivu as fighting raged after capturing a large portion of Goma, a humanitarian hub vital for the more than 6 million people who had been displaced by the conflict in east Congo. After hundreds of foreign military contractors withdrew and gave their arms to the rebels, the Congolese military has been weak.
Witnesses reported to The Associated Press that the rebels were marching toward the province’s center on Thursday morning. They have already taken control of several towns in South Kivu.
Additionally, at least 13 South African peacekeepers have been killed. President Paul Kagame, who vowed to deal with any conflict in South Africa, retaliated by accusing the” Raw Defense Force militia” of being involved in the conflict, prompting an angry response from his country.
The South African peacekeepers, Kagame said, are a” belligerent force “working alongside armed groups that target Rwanda”. The Rwandan leader said on X that if South Africa preferred confrontation, Rwanda would handle the situation in that context any day.
According to analysts, eastern Congo’s real conflict is stems from a desire to control the country’s vast mineral deposits. The AP has been informed by M23 rebels that they are planning to end their rule over eastern Congo and that they will establish a new administration and bring displaced people back to their homes.
The chaotic situation with the M23 has its roots in ethnic conflict, stretching back decades to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, when 800, 000 Tutsis and others were killed by Hutus and former militias. M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed that the Tutsis are being targeted by Hutus and others involved in the genocide. Many Hutus emigrated to the Congo after 1994.
Analysts have warned that a regional conflict is possible, and that getting a rebelland could be harder than it was in 2012, when the M23 first seized Goma. According to Murithi Mutiga, program director for Africa at the crisis group, a think tank, Rwanda has encouraged the rebels because it believes Congo is ignoring its interests in the area and has broken previous peace agreements.
” Ultimately, this is a failure of African mediation ( because ) the warning signs were always there. According to Mutiga, Kigali was using very bellicose language, and the Congolese government was using very, very aggressive language.
