The rebels emphasize that they are dedicated to safeguarding and defending both their locations and the civilian population.
Despite claiming humanitarian reasons for their unilateral ceasefire, the Rwanda-backed rebels who took over a major city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) showed no signs of relinquishing control of Goma, which is located in the center of an area rich in minerals worth trillions of dollars.
The revelation was made on Monday, just after the UN health agency reported that fighting between Congolese authorities and M23 rebels last week claimed at least 900 lives when the rebels took control of the two-million-person city of Goma.
According to reports, the rebels were them moving on Bukavu, another province city, and vowed to keep going until they reached Kinshasa, the capital of the Congo, which was a thousand miles away.
“We want to be clear that we do not intend to take over Bukavu or any other areas. Nonetheless, we reaffirm our dedication to safeguarding and defending both our positions and the civilian population”, M23 rebel spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.
The Congolese military’s continuous use of military planes at Kavumu airport, where they allegedly load bombs that kill their fellow countrymen in “liberated” areas, has been condemned by the rebel alliance.
The DRC administration did not immediately respond. The announcement was made in advance of this week’s combined gathering of the southern and eastern African regional blocs, which have demanded a ceasefire. Rwandan and DRC presidents will attend, according to a statement made by Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday.
According to UN analysts, the M23 rebels have some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda supporting them, which is a significant increase from 2012, when they temporarily took control of Goma before withdrawing in response to international pressure.
They are the most powerful of over 100 armed groups fighting for control of the eastern DRC, which is home to enormous deposits that are essential to a large portion of global technology.
After year of battle, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to evacuate again with what remained of their things due to the most recent hostilities. The neighboring country of Rwanda, which has denied backing the M23, saw thousands of people.
Conflict between ethnic groups
There are links between the violence in the DRC and an ethnic struggle that has lasted for decades. In the DRC, M23 claims to be protecting ethnic Tutsis.
According to Rwanda, Hutus and former militias that carried out the 1994 genocide against 800,000 Tutsis and others are persecuting the Tutsis.
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group was created by numerous Hutus who fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the genocide. The gang is “fully integrated” into the Congolese military, according to Rwanda, which refutes the accusations.
As corpse bags were carried onto vehicles for interment in Goma on Monday, family frantically searched morgues for the identities of their loved ones.
Chiza Nyenyezi cried as she remembered how her kid had been shot and killed.
Nyenyezi claimed, “A muzalendo shot him in the back (and) it went out of his chest”, alluding to the paramilitary group affiliated with the Congolese army. “His entire chest was open”.
As people attempted to rescue her son’s body from the streets, a bomb went off, making it impossible to do so right away, according to Louise Shalukoma.
“My God, my fourth child, when I saw that he was dead, I said, ‘Lord, what am I going to do ?’ , she moaned. “This M23 war came for me in Goma”.
