Congo’s Goma under siege as M23, Rwandan forces intensify assault

Heavy artillery fire rocked the eastern Congolese city of Goma on Monday as France warned the capital of the mineral-rich region was on the brink of falling to militia fighters and Rwandan troops.

Gunshots rang out across Goma overnight before dozens of rebels in military uniform early Monday morning marched into the capital of North Kivu province, which sits on the border with Rwanda in the volatile region rich in minerals critical to much of the world’s technology.

The Congolese government confirmed the presence of M23 rebels in Goma, 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of capital Kinshasa, but stopped short of saying they were in control of the city. In a statement on X, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya asked Goma residents to stay at home and also urged Congolese nationals around the world to mobilize in support of the country. “No centimeter will be given up!!!” Muyaya wrote.

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As the rebels entered Goma, a fire at the city’s Munzenze prison on Monday morning resulted in the escape of thousands of inmates. “All the prisoners who were detained came out, whether women, men or minors, everyone came out,” said Mwamisyo Ndungo, one of the escapees who estimated that more than 2,000 fled the facility.

The M23 rebels are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich region in the decades-long conflict, one of Africa’s largest. The rebels temporarily took over Goma in 2012, before they were forced to pull out under international pressure, and resurfaced in late 2021, with increasing support from Rwanda, according to Congo’s government and United Nations experts. Rwanda has denied such support.

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The latest fighting has intensified a humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 400,000 people since the start of the year, according to the UN.

Amid mounting international concern, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the Rwanda-backed offensive “must stop”, expressing his country’s solidarity with the DRC “as Goma prepares to fall”.

The DRC government said it “continues to work to avoid carnage and the loss of human life” in Goma, spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on X in the first Congolese statement since fighters entered the city.

In a statement on Sunday night, the M23 claimed it was a “glorious day marking the liberation for the city of Goma,” issuing an ultimatum to Congolese soldiers to hand over their weapons.

Repeated explosions from heavy artillery and intense bursts of gunfire echoed across central Goma on Monday, AFP correspondents at the scene said.

The streets were almost deserted, with the exception of groups of retreating pro-DRC militia fighters.

As gunfire rang out, a resident on a motorbike told others to turn back.

The DRC and Rwanda have had fraught relations for decades, further strained in the wake of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Kinshasa has accused Kigali of wanting to get hold of the region’s mineral wealth, including gold – an accusation that Kigali denies.

‘We are afraid’

M23 fighters and more than 3,500 Rwandan soldiers entered Goma overnight after laying siege to the city for several days, according to the United Nations and security sources.

“We are in our beds because we are afraid,” Goma resident Lucie told AFP by telephone.

“We can hear the shooting outside our homes, we cannot leave.”

In the north of the city near the airport, there was a mass jailbreak from a torched prison which resulted in “deaths” on Monday, a security source told AFP, without giving further details.

In some parts of the city, the M23 fighters were reportedly welcomed by celebrating locals, AFP correspondents said.

Some Congolese units had begun to surrender by handing over their weapons to peacekeepers in Goma, according to Uruguay’s army, which provides soldiers to the UN’s force MONUSCO in the DRC.

The border between Rwanda and the DRC near Goma was also closed on Monday, a European consulate source told AFP.

Rwandan state media had earlier said that buses were ready to evacuate UN staff and their families from Goma over the border.

With pressure mounting for an end to the battle for Goma, Kenya announced that Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame had agreed to attend a summit in the next two days.

‘Declaration of war’

At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sunday in response to the crisis, the DRC called for the United Nations to impose sanctions on its neighbour for helping the M23.

“This is a frontal assault, a declaration of war that no longer hides behind diplomatic artifice,” said Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner.

The UN Security Council called for the withdrawal of aggressive “external forces”, but stopped short of explicitly naming them.

Between 500 and 1,000 Rwandan soldiers arrived on Sunday to reinforce the M23 near Goma, UN sources told AFP.

Thirteen foreign peacekeepers have been killed in the escalating clashes, and UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on Rwanda to pull its armed forces out of the country.

Rwanda has rejected calls to withdraw.

“This fighting close to the Rwandan border continues to present a serious threat to Rwanda’s security and territorial integrity, and necessitates Rwanda’s sustained defensive posture,” Rwanda’s foreign ministry said.

Diplomats withdrawn

Both the DRC and Rwanda have withdrawn their diplomats from each other’s capitals in a breakdown of relations.

A UN experts’ report said Rwanda was using the M23 to secure access to the DRC’s mineral wealth, exporting it abroad for its own gain.

Kinshasa’s Kayikwamba called on the UN Security Council to impose a “total embargo on the export of all minerals labelled as Rwandan, in particular gold”.

Rwanda has rejected DRC’s accusations.

The mostly Tutsi M23, or March 23 Movement, briefly occupied Goma at the end of 2012.

It was militarily defeated by DR Congo forces and the UN in 2013. After eight years of dormancy, the group took up arms in late 2021 and started seizing large swathes of North Kivu.

Half a dozen ceasefires and truces have already been declared and broken in the region. The last ceasefire was signed at the end of July.

The United States, France, the UK and Germany have called on their citizens to leave Goma.