The Rwandan Bukavu rebels, M23, entered the second largest city in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and seized the Regional Governor’s Office.
Some people lined up on the streets to applaud and chanted the fighters while they were their wife and went to the city center without resistance. This is the second city after Ghauma, the rebels fell in the mineral -rich area in the past few weeks.
The Congolese government recognized its fall and urged the residents to stay at home “to avoid targeting by the occupation forces.”
The United Nations and European countries have warned that the last attack, which witnessed hundreds of thousands of people who were forced from their homes, could provoke a wider regional war.
A population in Bukavo, who asked not to be identified because of her safety fears, told BBC on Sunday that most people are still afraid to leave their homes.
“Since yesterday, children and youth have taken weapons. They are shooting everywhere in all directions. They are looting,” she said.
“This morning, M23 entered and they were appreciated by people, very happy to see them. We do not know whether that is because they were afraid or because they found that there are no powers in the city.
“The place where I live in crackling [gunfire] It is still possible to hear. “
On Friday, M23 seized the main Bukavu airport, which is located about 30 km (18 miles) north of the city – then began to move slowly towards the city, the capital of the South Kivu province.
The governor of the province, Jean -Jacques Borusi Sadiki, told Reuters that the fighters were in the center of Boukavo by Sunday morning, adding that the Congolese forces had withdrawn to avoid urban fighting.
This left a security vacuum in the city on Saturday with chaotic scenes, including the reported prison break from the central prison.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said that the warehouse, which includes approximately 7,000 tons of food, has been looted.
The city of about two million people on the southern end of Lake Kevo is the borders of Rwanda, which is an important transit point for the trade of local minerals.
Its fall represents an unprecedented expansion in the M23 region since the last rebellion began in late 2021 – a blow to President Felix Chesikde’s government.
Government spokesman Patrick Moyaya said that Rwanda violates the regional integrity of Dr. Congo through expansionist ambitions and human rights violations.
The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of sowing chaos in the region – in addition to the presence of forces on the ground – so that it can benefit from its natural resources, which Kigali denies.
President TSHISECEDI wants to face his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame sanctions on the latest turmoil.
But President Kagami rejected such threats – repeatedly and repeatedly indicated that Rwanda’s main priority is her security.
He has long been angry with what the Congolese authorities’ failure in dealing with the Dr Con Cono rebel -based group, which sees it, is a threat to Rwanda.
The group consists of some members of the Ethnic Huto militia accused of getting involved in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda when more than 100 days were killed about 800,000 people, especially from the ethnic tutsi group.
M23 forces, led by Tusti, met at the place of De L’endépendance in the center of Boukavo on Sunday, when one of its leaders, Bernard Pimongo, was photographed by chatting with the local population and answering their questions in Swahiliya.
He urged government forces to “hide in the homes” to surrender – and accused the army of clouds by spreading terrorism by arming the local youth who went to loot.
The African Union (AU) – who kept the state summit in Ethiopia this week – urged M23 to disarm.
“We are all very concerned about an open regional war,” Reuters quoted the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security.
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