M23 rebels seize control of strategic town in eastern DRC
M23 rebels backed by Rwanda have seized control of Masisi, a strategically important town in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, French news agency AFP reports.
Masisi, the region’s administrative capital, is about 80km north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, on a road leading into the DRC's interior. “It is with dismay that we learn of the capture of Masisi centre by the M23,” Alexis Bahunga, MP for North Kivu, told AFP.
“We are asking the government (...) to take measures to restore the authority of the state throughout the territory,” he said, referring to a territory plunged “into a serious humanitarian crisis”.
"They held a meeting here at the church and told us they had come to liberate the country"
A resident of Masisi, Dieudonné Mirimo Mahibdule, told AFP the rebels had taken the town at around 14.00 local time. “They held a meeting here at the church and told us they had come to liberate the country,” he said.
The town is “calm for the moment”, but civilians fled to hospitals to escape gunfire earlier in the day, a hospital source told AFP on condition of anonymity. “Some civilians were wounded, but so far no deaths have been recorded in hospital,” they said.
30-year conflict
Since November 2021, the M23 rebellion has seized vast swathes of territory in the DRC’s resource-rich east, which has been riven by conflict for 30 years.
At the end of December, the rebels continued to gain ground in the northern part of North Kivu, reaching a distance of around 50km from Lubero, the capital of the territory, and 100km from the town of Butembo, a major commercial crossroads in the region.
Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan president Paul Kagame were due to meet in December for a summit in Luanda organised by Angolan president Joao Lourenço, the African Union’s appointed mediator in the conflict.
An agreement “for the restoration of peace and stability in the east of the DRC” was due to be put on the table, but the two parties were unable to agree on the terms, leading to the last-minute cancellation of the summit.
Congolese soldiers at a frontline military position above the town of Kibirizi, controlled by the M23 rebellion, North Kivu province, May 2024 © PHOTO ALEXIS HUGUET / AFP
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