‘Declaration of war’: M23 rebels claim to have captured DR Congo City | Conflict news

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Witnesses say they saw rebels enter the eastern city center amid gunfire, as the United Nations calls for an end to the attack.

Gunfire rang out across parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, hours later Rwanda-backed M23 rebels They said they captured it despite the UN Security Council calling for an end to the attack.

The armed group announced the capture of the city in a statement early Monday, with the DRC government saying its advance was a “declaration of war” by Rwanda and the UN saying its capture caused “mass panic” among Goma’s two-million-strong population.

The M23’s claim came minutes before the 48-hour deadline it gave Congolese forces to hand over their weapons. Its fighters also urged Goma residents to remain calm and for members of the DRC army to gather at the central stadium.

Witnesses told Reuters that the rebels entered the center of Goma. Someone shared a brief video clip showing men armed with weapons walking through the streets, the agency reported.

The M23 Rebel coalition’s advance has forced thousands in the mineral-rich east of the DRC from their homes and raised fears that the decades-old conflict risks setting up a wider regional war.

M23 fighters in conflict with the Congolese army and UN peacekeepers were trapped on the outskirts of Goma for several days.

The battle for the main city is the latest chapter of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a volatile region that has struggled with regional rivalries, ethnic conflicts and armed militia conflicts for more than three decades, resulting in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

In a video posted on X, DRC government spokesman Patrick Muyaya called for the protection of civilians and said the country was “in a state of war.”

Angry at the M23’s advance on GOMA, DRC cuts ties with Rwanda On Saturday, he called for UN sanctions on its neighbour.

As international pressure mounts to end the battle for Goma, Kenya announced on Sunday that DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame have agreed to attend a summit in the next two days.

Kenyan President William Ruto appealed to both leaders to “move away from the call for peace from the people of our region and the international community.”

Ruto, head of the East African Community bloc, will convene an emergency meeting of heads of state in the situation, said Korir Singwe, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya.

At a UNTC emergency meeting on Sunday in response to the crisis, Kinshasa’s top diplomat warned that more Rwandan troops were crossing the border “in an open and calculated violation” of sovereignty.

Foreign Minister Therese Kayekwamba-Wagner said: “This is a frontal assault, a declaration of war that can no longer hide behind diplomatic pieces.”

Kigali rejected the statements that “did not provide any solutions”, blaming Kinshasa for sparking the latest escalation.

“The fighting near the Rwandan border continues to pose a serious threat to Rwanda’s security security and territorial integrity and necessitates Rwanda’s continued defensive posture,” Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

UN experts say Rwanda has deployed between 3,000 and 4,000 troops and provided significant firepower, including rockets and snipers, to support the M23 in fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In a statement late Sunday, UNTC called for the withdrawal of aggressive “external forces” in the region but stopped short of explicitly naming them.

The statement came after UN President António Guterres called on Rwanda to withdraw its armed forces from the Democratic Republic of the Congo – a call rejected by Kigali.

About a dozen foreign peacekeepers have been killed in the escalating clashes.