Chaos in DR Congo after the seizure of Goma by M23 rebels supported by the Rwandan army

Paul Kagame, Rwandan president, and Felix Tshisekedi, Congolese president, promised to meet to discuss the crisis while the UN calls on them to lay down their arms.

Published by

Juan Peña

January 27, 2025

3 minutes read

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The Congolese city of Goma is under siege by rebel forces of the M23, a militia from Kivu province that is supported by Rwanda in its fight against the Government of Congo. According to reports, the city is nearly under full rebel control following intense fighting that has continued since Saturday.

Goma lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, in North Kivu province, in the east of the country. The region is subject to severe instability caused by rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23), backed by the Rwandan government. Kivu is a region rich in minerals, such as gold and cobalt.

The DR Congo government has accused Rwanda of deploying military personnel from its armed forces on its territory with the aim of providing support to M23 militiamen. DRC Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner denounced Sunday at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council the entry into her country's territory of more Rwandan troops in support of the M23 rebels, an action she described as a "declaration of war."

The UN Security Council has scheduled a new emergency meeting to deal with the situation in the country. Meanwhile, the leaders of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, and Rwanda, Paul Kagame, have promised to meet soon to discuss the crisis.

For its part, the Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the fighting near its border "represents a serious threat to the security and territorial integrity" of its country and requires "a defensive posture."

Goma under siege

The forces of the M23 rebels have been increasing their hostile activity for several weeks but only launched the assault on the city of Goma this weekend. Local sources reported from Saturday heavy artillery salvoes against the city before the militia assault.

Thirteen blue helmets from the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO were killed in the bombardment and fighting. The M23 insurgents were accompanied by at least 3,500 uniformed members of the Rwandan armed forces.

Amid the chaos, a 'massive escape' was reported from a prison housing 3,000 detainees, which was set on fire. According to a security source who spoke to AFP, there were reports of several deaths, though no official casualty toll was provided.

M23, guerrilla of Tutsi rebels

The M23 was formed a little more than a decade ago as a result of a poorly executed peace with loose ends between the Congolese government and ethnic Tutsi rebel groups in the east of the country. Those rebels accused the Kinshasa government of not complying with what was agreed in 2009 and of not integrating the rebels into the armed forces, among other conditions.

Since 2012, the group operated in Congo's eastern regions, claiming to defend the interests of ethnic Tutsis in the country. The Tutsis, the ethnic group to which Rwanda's current president, Paul Kagame belongs, are along with the Hutus one of the main ethnic groups in the region that have been at the center of conflicts of interest since the post-colonial era.

If the guerrillas were defeated and expelled from Congo in 2013 thanks to the efforts of the Kinshasa government and MONUSCO, the movement was not completely eradicated and for years obtained logistical support from the Rwandan government.

This allowed it to destabilize eastern Congo again and resurge in 2021 in the face of the Kinshasa Government's weakness and inability to control the region.

Rwanda maintains its support to the rebels as a way to protect its regional and economic interests, destabilizing a region rich in resources such as North Kivu. For years, Rwanda has been exporting as its own thousands of tons of gold and coltan extracted from Congolese territory under M23 control.

Evacuating non-essential UN personnel

The UN Security Council issued a communiqué on Sunday urging the withdrawal of aggressive "external forces," without explicitly naming who they are.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Sunday for Rwandan forces to withdraw from DRC territory and cease support for the M23 rebel group.

Buses to evacuate UN staff from the Democratic Republic of Congo are on the border with Rwanda, after the African country accused its neighbor of sending troops in support of the M23 militia to seize the city of Goma.

"UN staff members and their families who have been working in the DRC" are being evacuated from Goma and there are buses at the border "waiting" to transport them to Rwanda's capital, Kigali, where they will take flights to their respective countries, state broadcaster RBA on X reported.

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