In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, M23 rebels conquer several cities and overthrow President Tshisekedi. Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing.
Fleeing: Civilians in the hills outside Kanyabayonga, May 14. Rebels now control the area. Photo: Alexis Huguet / afp
SEDAN taz | Just in time for the Democratic Republic of Congo's Independence Day on June 30, the rebel army M23 (March 23 Movement) has scored its biggest successes of the year so far in the east of the country. The rebels captured the town of Kanyabayonga on Friday, 150 kilometers north of the besieged provincial capital of Goma, opening access to the most densely populated part of North Kivu province.
Videos showed the rebels marching in long columns through the city's dusty streets. On Saturday, the M23 also took the neighbouring town of Kirumba and other towns in the surrounding mountainous area and promised residents security and peace in rallies.
Eyewitnesses said Sunday that the rebels were now in Kaseghe, just 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Butembo, North Kivu's second city and a major commercial hub.
For weeks, the Congolese army had tried to stop the rebels' advance towards these highlands. According to reports, there have recently been disputes between army units and between the army and the local paramilitary militias “Wazalendo” (Patriots), which were created to fight against the M23, considered a puppet of Rwanda.
An area full of war displaced people
The area around Kanyabayonga is the heartland of the eastern Congolese Nande people, historic rivals of the dominant Rwandan ethnic group in the provincial capital, Goma, from which the M23 rebels are recruited. By gaining a foothold in the Nande area, they are significantly expanding their war.
At the same time, the M23 is conquering an area full of displaced people. According to the UN, between March and May some 54,000 families – more than 300,000 people – fled combat zones in the Goma area north towards Kanyabayonga; a good half are now heading north, according to the latest UNHCR monthly report from mid-June. The town of Kanyabayonga is now said to be 90 percent depopulated, UN-backed Radio Okapi reported at the weekend.
The rebel advance is also a measure of Rwanda, whose military support strengthened the M23 in the first place. Last Thursday, Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who mediates between Congo and Rwanda, announced talks for a summit between the two presidents, Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame.
Congo's new Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka, who was visiting Goma, immediately contradicted him: “We are not negotiating with our attackers,” she said. If the M23's new advance is due to Rwandan help, it could also be seen as a means of putting pressure on Congo to finally agree to talks.
The president on the defensive on all fronts
Congo's president, Félix Tshisekedi, is on the defensive militarily and politically. After his controversial re-election in December 2023, he had to wait until June 12 this year for his new Prime Minister, Judith Suminwa Tuluka, to take office. In the new government, the previous Defense Minister, Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader with experience in the east, was replaced by Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita, a personal friend of the president with no military background.
Since then, things have been in turmoil in the Congo army, and now the army has evacuated one of its most important fronts without a fight, embarrassing Tshisekedi.
The president gathered Congo's top generals for a crisis summit in Kinshasa on Saturday. He had earlier vowed to “save the territorial integrity of our country” in his Independence Day speech.
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the rebel political group AFC (Congo River Alliance) around the M23, called on the army to overthrow the president in his own speech on Independence Day: “Join the revolution!”