M23 rebels enter second major city Bukavu happymamay

The rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bocafo, entered the second largest city in the eastern region.

Cornell Nanga, leader of the Kungo River coalition, which includes the M23 rebels, told Reuters that the rebels had entered the capital of South Kevo Province on Friday evening and will continue their progress on Saturday.

Rwandan -backed militants come in spite of international calls for a ceasefire and the resumption of peace talks.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced in recent weeks as a result of the progress of the rebels.

Last month, the M23 led by Tursi, supported by the neighboring Bwanda, Juma, the main city in the east rich in minerals. The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of sowing chaos in the region in order to benefit from its resources, and it is a claim that Rwanda denied.

M23 briefly acquired Goma in a previous conflict in 2012, but BUKAVU, the capital of the South Kevo Province, would represent a new stage in the troubled modern history in the region.

The city, which borders Rwanda, is located on the southern end of Lake Kivu and is an important transit point for the trade of local minerals.

Earlier on Friday, rebel fighters entered the airport about 30 km (19 miles) north of Bukavo, where the Congolese army and the allied militia withdrew without providing a lot of resistance.

But there were heavy clashes on the outskirts of Boukavo, Deputy Governor of South Kivu Jean Icano, for the BBC.

The BBC residents said that the authorities advised the residents to stay inside.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, President Kongo Felix Chesikde called for Rwanda to accuse him of “expansionist ambitions”, according to reports of the news agency.

“We will no longer bear our strategic resources that are looted in favor of foreign interests under the perpetrator view of those who feed on chaos,” he said.

In addition to accusing him of supporting the rebels, which Rwanda denied, the country is also said to have its own special forces in the eastern Congo.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said his country’s priority is security. He said that Rwanda is in danger from the Hot Tero in Dr. Congo and rejected any threat of penalties.

The news of the last progress comes as the heads of the continent’s state will meet at the African Union Summit (AU) in Ethiopia on Saturday.

“Military campaigns will not solve these problems,” Moussa Faki Mahamat said. There is a general mobilization of Africa today on this issue and I hope we will be able to impose this ceasefire. “

Additional reports by Malo Corseno and LASTECK.