Rebels from the Rwandan-backed M23 group have seized the strategically essential airport serving Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following a fast advance south in current days.
The airport within the city of Kavumu, the place Congolese troops had been positioned, is the final navy impediment to the rebels earlier than Bukavu, a metropolis of about 1,000,000 individuals 17 miles (27km) to the south.
The airport’s fall, which was reported by Reuters and Agence France-Presse quoting safety and humanitarian sources, has prompted fears of an imminent push on town itself. Final month the rebels took Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, in an analogous lightning offensive.
On Thursday the group captured Kabamba and the industrial centre of Katana as they superior south alongside the N2 street. “M23 troopers are blocking the street and are heading in the direction of Kavumu – they have already got management of Katana,” a resident advised Reuters.
Airport workers mentioned it had been emptied and in impact closed, with Congolese forces having eliminated an plane and different gear. Troops had been seen heading again to Bukavu in navy vehicles and on motorbikes laden with mattresses and different belongings.
Bukavu beforehand fell to troopers who abandoned the Congolese military in 2004 and the seize of town would in impact give the M23 whole management of the Lake Kivu space.
Corneille Nangaa, the top of the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of insurgent teams that features M23, mentioned militias had been attacked and had been defending themselves.
Congo’s president, Félix Tshisekedi, travelled to Germany to attend the Munich Safety Convention on Friday as he seeks worldwide help to finish the battle in jap DRC.
He’s not attending this weekend’s annual African Union summit within the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, which is targeted on efforts to halt the battle, with the prime minister, Judith Suminwa Tuluka, taking his place.
Combating has raged in jap DRC for the final three years, however the current surge in violence has prompted worldwide requires de-escalation and worsened an already dire humanitarian scenario. The combating has destroyed 70,000 emergency shelters round Goma and Minova in South Kivu, leaving 350,000 internally displaced individuals with out shelter, in line with the UN.
M23 is the newest in a string of ethnic Tutsi-led rebel teams which have operated within the mineral-rich jap DRC since a 2003 deal was meant to finish wars that had killed 6 million individuals, largely from starvation and illness. The group is backed by Rwanda, which says its major curiosity is to eradicate fighters linked to the 1994 genocide. The Congolese authorities and several other UN experiences say the truth is Rwanda is utilizing the group as a way to extract after which export worthwhile minerals to be used in merchandise corresponding to cell phones.
The combating has roped in armies of many nations from inside and out of doors the continent, together with people who contribute to a UN peacekeeping mission. Canada introduced this week it had withdrawn its navy personnel from the power, citing “more and more perilous safety situations” in Goma.
On Thursday a well-liked Congolese singer was killed within the metropolis whereas making a music video. The physique of Delphin Katembo Vinywasiki, popularly identified by his stage identify Delcat Idengo, was discovered alongside a street close to Kilijiwe district in northern Goma within the afternoon, with witnesses saying he died on the spot after being shot within the head.
Social media photographs confirmed the physique of Vinywasiki, wearing navy trousers for the video shoot, mendacity on the bottom.
Vinywasiki, whose songs usually criticised battle and human rights violations in DRC, was one among a whole lot of prisoners who broke out of a jail in Goma throughout the M23 advance final month. He had been incarcerated for allegedly inciting individuals to arm themselves and power UN peacekeepers overseas and was awaiting trial.
The circumstances across the singer’s loss of life are unclear. Patrick Muyaya, a DRC authorities spokesperson, condemned the killing, which he described as abominable. “Neither horror, nor terror, and even much less the premature resort to arms towards harmless civilians will have the ability to extinguish the flame of resistance in Goma and all through the nation,” he wrote on X.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
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