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Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has insisted that his troops are mounting a “vigorous” response to Rwanda-backed fighters advancing in the country’s perennially troubled east, while criticising the international community’s “silence and inaction.”
The weeks-long offensive by the M23 armed group, which has seized vast swathes of eastern DRC, including most of the key city of Goma, has prompted calls for crisis talks and warnings of a looming humanitarian disaster.
DRC’s mineral-rich east has been plagued by decades of conflict involving numerous armed groups, partly linked to the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
In his first remarks since the latest crisis erupted, Tshisekedi said late on Wednesday that a “vigorous and coordinated response against these terrorists and their sponsors is underway.”
The “silence and inaction” of the international community were an “affront” amid an “unprecedented worsening of the security situation,” he said in a televised address.
He warned that the advance of Rwanda-backed fighters could lead “straight to an escalation” in the broader Great Lakes region.
This followed reports from local sources to AFP that Kigali-backed fighters had seized two districts in South Kivu.
The Congolese army has yet to issue a statement on M23’s latest advances.
After days of intense clashes that left more than 100 dead and nearly 1,000 wounded—according to an AFP tally from overwhelmed hospitals—calm returned to Goma, where residents cautiously emerged from their homes.
“Today, we are not afraid,” Goma resident Jean de Dieu told AFP by telephone from the city of one million people, located between Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border.
‘Peaceful Settlement’ Urged
Despite international pressure to resolve the crisis, Tshisekedi declined to attend crisis talks with his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, on Wednesday.
Following the virtual summit, the regional East African Community (EAC) bloc “called for a peaceful settlement of the conflicts,” urging the DRC to “directly engage with all stakeholders, including the M23.”
In a late-night tweet, Kagame warned South African President Cyril Ramaphosa—who had tweeted condolences following the deaths of 13 South African troops in the DRC—that his country was “in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator.”
The troops were part of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC), which Kagame said had “no place in this situation.”
Angola, which mediated unsuccessful talks last month, has also called for urgent dialogue between the Congolese and Rwandan leaders in Luanda and confirmed that Tshisekedi had arrived in the city on Wednesday.
The fighting has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis in the region, causing severe food and water shortages and forcing half a million people from their homes this month, according to the United Nations.
‘Cut Off from the World’
On Sunday, M23 fighters and Rwandan troops entered Goma, seizing the key mineral trading hub’s airport. AFP reporters confirmed they were the only forces left in the city’s downtown area.
A long procession of hundreds of Congolese soldiers and pro-Kinshasa militiamen, unarmed and wearing white headbands, were paraded through the city centre by M23 fighters, a security source said.
There was also widespread looting, AFP journalists observed.
Student Merdi Kambelenge told AFP that while the situation had “stabilised,” the ongoing power outage meant “we’re cut off from the world.”
Earlier in the week, angry protesters in the capital, Kinshasa, attacked several embassies, accusing them of failing to intervene in the crisis. Calm was restored after officials banned all further demonstrations.
M23 Advance ‘Will Continue’
The UN, the US, China, and the European Union have all called on Rwanda to withdraw its forces from eastern DRC.
However, Rwanda’s ambassador-at-large for the Great Lakes region, Vincent Karega, told AFP that M23’s advance “will continue.”
He suggested that the fighters could push beyond the country’s east—even as far as Kinshasa.
The DRC is rich in gold and other valuable minerals, including cobalt, coltan, tantalum, and tin, which are widely used in batteries and electronics.
Kinshasa has accused Rwanda of orchestrating the offensive to exploit the region’s mineral wealth—a claim supported by UN experts, who report that Kigali has thousands of troops in the DRC and “de facto control” over M23.
Rwanda has denied the allegations.
Kagame has never admitted military involvement, arguing that Rwanda’s objective is to eliminate the DRC-based armed group, the FDLR, which was created by former Hutu leaders responsible for massacring Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.
AFP
