About Rwanda's role in the conflict:
"Evidence has piled up of their troops’ activities in North Kivu."
Fall of DRC’s Goma: Urgent Action Needed to Avert a Regional War
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On the morning of 27 January, Rwandan-backed March 23 (M23) rebels swept into Goma, capital of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, seizing control of the city of one million. The development marks a dramatic escalation in the long-running crisis.
The fighting has uprooted over two million from their homes, exposing thousands around Goma to predation by various militias. Rwanda and the M23 now control practically all of North Kivu province and by force of arms have forged a new reality in the region. Worse could well be on the way. Rebels are pushing deeper into the neighbouring South Kivu province and menacing its capital Bukavu, suggesting they have ambitions beyond Goma or at least are seeking to ramp up the pressure on a weakened Kinshasa.
Left unchecked, the fighting could spread throughout the Great Lakes region, recalling the horrors of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when millions died amid a multi-country war in the Congo.
Regional and international diplomacy has failed to meet the moment, even as concerted efforts to halt the fighting have never been more urgent.
Right now, the most promising forum are talks convened by Kenyan President William Ruto, the current chair of the East African Community, which begin 29 January.
All interested parties – including leaders from the DRC, Rwanda and Angola (which has run its own mediation track at the request of the African Union) should be at the table for this and future rounds. These negotiations will need to focus on short-term measures to stabilise Goma and prevent fresh urban combat which would devastate the city’s traumatised population.
Regional diplomats should work with the UN to create humanitarian corridors to supply thousands stranded in and around the city, and seek a caretaker arrangement for Goma, rather than leave Rwanda or the M23 in control while talks continue. Influential external actors, notably the EU and U.S., should throw their weight behind this effort while warning Kigali against advances deeper into its neighbour’s territory.
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Having gained control of Sake on 23 January, the M23 and Rwandan special forces advanced on Goma the next day, using long-range artillery to successfully sow panic in the ranks of the Congolese army and its auxiliaries. During the weekend of 25 and 26 January, Congolese troops and pro-Kinshasa militia flowed back into the city as fighting engulfed the outskirts. While soldiers from the national army, Southern African regional force and UN tried to hold the lines, including around the airport, they were rapidly overwhelmed and encircled.
Over the course of 27 January, M23 columns were increasingly visible, and uncontested, in the centre of the city while international forces kept a low profile or evacuated their bases. On the morning of 28 January, some locals reported pockets of fighting, although some gunshots are likely linked to pillage rather than organised resistance to the M23, with the exception of the airport which was still contested ground. Most worrying are reports that Congolese troops have landed shells on the Rwandan side of the border, reportedly leading to some deaths.
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The risk is real that the situation could escalate into a regional conflagration if talks are not successful. Kigali’s desire to use its superior force to push negotiation positions in its favour is particularly worrying.
Western and regional diplomats ... must continue to press Kigali to rethink and abandon its bellicose positioning.
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> Read on from ICG'w website: https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/great-lakes/democratic-republic-congo/fall-drcs-goma-urgent-action-needed-avert-regional-war?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
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