M23 rebels seize key eastern DRC town of Minova

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

M23 rebels seize key eastern DRC town of Minova

9:51 CAT | 22 Jan 2025

FILE - Members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo stand guard against the M23 rebel group in Lubero, North Kivu province, DRC [File photo: Djaffar Al Katanty/Reuters]

M23 rebels seize key eastern DRC town of Minova

M23 rebels have seized the town of Minova in eastern DR Congo, a key supply route for the provincial capital Goma, authorities said.

The provincial governor of South Kivu, Jean-Jacques Purusi, on Tuesday confirmed the capture of Minova, adding that the rebels have also captured the mining towns of Lumbishi, Numbi and Shanje in the same province, as well as the town of Bweremana in neighbouring North Kivu province.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) army acknowledged that the rebels had made “breakthroughs” in Minova and Bweremana. It did not say if the towns had been captured.

M23, or the March 23 Movement, is an armed group composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than 10 years ago. Since its resurgence in 2022, M23 has continued to gain ground in eastern DRC.

It is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, in a decades-long conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

Since 1998, approximately six million people have been killed while roughly seven million have been displaced internally.

More than 237,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in eastern Congo since the beginning of this year, the United Nations refugee agency said in a report on Monday.

The DRC and the United Nations accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 with troops and weapons – something Rwanda denies

Source: AL Jazeera