Rwandan backed rebels capture DRC town

Rebel forces backed by Rwanda have captured the town of Masisi in the east of the DRC, reports BBC News. This is the second town seized by the M23 group in as many days in the mineral-rich North Kivu province. The group has taken control of vast swathes of eastern DR Congo since 2021, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Angola has been attempting to mediate talks between President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame. But these broke down last month. ‘It is with dismay that we learn of the capture of Masisi centre by the M23,’ Alexis Bahunga, a member of North Kivu provincial assembly, told the AFP news agency. Bahungu said this plunges the territory into a serious humanitarian crisis’ and urged the government to strengthen the capacity of the army in the region. It is not clear how many people were killed in the fighting between the M23 and the army and pro-government militias. Masisi, which has a population of about 40 000, is the capital of the territory of the same name. It is about 80km north of the North Kivu provincial capital Goma, which the M23 briefly occupied in 2012. On Friday, the M23 captured the nearby town of Katale. In July, Rwanda did not deny a UN report saying it had about 4 000 soldiers fighting alongside the M23 in the DRC. Rwanda accused the Congolese Government of not doing enough to tackle decades of conflict in the east of the country. Rwanda has previously said the authorities in DR Congo were working with some of those responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide against ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Rwanda's critics accuse it of using the M23 to loot eastern DRC’s minerals such as gold, cobalt and tantalum.

Full BBC News report