‘Declaration of war’: M23 rebels claim to have captured key DR Congo city

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Hours after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed to have taken control of Goma, the largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), gunfire erupted in parts of the city, which the UN Security Council had demanded was put an end to the offensive.

The DRC government claimed their advance was a “declaration of war” by Rwanda, and the UN claimed the capture of Goma has “shepherd panic” among its two million residents in a statement released early on Monday.

The M23 claim came just before the 48-hour deadline for Congolese troops to give up their weapons. Additionally, its fighters urged Goma residents to remain calm and for DRC military personnel to assemble in the stadium’s central area.

According to two witnesses, rebels had entered Goma’s center, according to Reuters news agency. According to the report, one of them shared a brief video of heavily armed men strutting through the streets.

The M23 rebel alliance’s advance has prompted fears that a decades-old, simmering conflict could lead to a wider regional conflict and forced thousands of residents of DRC’s mineral-rich east to leave their homes.

On Goma’s outskirts, M23 fighters have been fighting for several days with the Congolese army and UN peacekeepers.

The eastern DRC, a volatile region that has been battling regional rivalries, ethnic disputes, and armed militia conflicts for more than three decades, has experienced one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The battle for the key city is the most recent chapter of fighting.

In a video posted on X, Patrick Muyaya, the spokesman for the DRC government, demanded that civilians be protected and that the nation be “in a war situation.”

The DRC cut ties with Rwanda on Saturday and demanded UN sanctions against its neighbor after the M23 advanced on Goma.

Kenya announced on Sunday that Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi had agreed to attend a summit in the next two days as international pressure mounts for a resolution to end the conflict in Goma.

Both leaders were asked to “heed the call for peace from the people of our region and the international community,” according to Kenyan President William Ruto.

Ruto, chairman of the East African Community bloc, will hold an emergency meeting for heads of state on the situation, said Korir Sing’Oei, principal secretary at Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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

Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, the DRC’s foreign minister, said, “This is a frontal assault, a declaration of war that no longer hides behind diplomatic artifice.”

Kigali dismissed statements that “did not provide any solutions”, and blamed Kinshasa for triggering the recent escalation.

According to Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “the fighting close to the Rwandan border continues to pose a serious threat to Rwanda’s security and territorial integrity.”

UN experts say Rwanda has deployed 3, 000-4, 000 soldiers and provided significant firepower, including missiles and snipers, to support the M23 in fighting in DRC.

The UNSC called for the region’s aggressive “external forces” to be stopped in a statement released late on Sunday, but it avoided naming them specifically.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that Rwanda withdraw its military from the DRC, a request that Kigali rejected.