BUKAVU, CONGO: Rwanda-backed rebels reached the middle of south Congo’s second-largest area, Bukavu, Sunday and were present in most parts of the city after much resistance from administration forces in an unprecedented growth of their reach in theyears-long fighting.
After a days-long protest from the area’s significant city of Goma, which they captured late last month, AP reporters witnessed people cheering on the insurgents in northern Bukavu as they drove and walked around the city center. Some parts of the city, however, remained deserted.
The insurgents are the most popular of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control of Congo’s mineral-rich south. The battle has caused the largest humanitarian crises in history to date, causing more than 6 million people to bedisplaced. If M23 had taken complete control of the city of about 1.3 million persons, it was not known.
