In a major escalation in the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), rebels from the March 23 Movement – or M23 – have seized Goma, the capital city of North Kivu province. At least 773 people have been killed there since the M23 claimed to have won control on January 27, while rebels have also seized several other towns in North Kivu including Sake and Minova.
The rebels are now reportedly advancing towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province. And Corneille Nangaa, who leads a rebel alliance of which M23 is the largest member, has vowed to march on the DRC’s capital in Kinshasa. Located 1,000 miles west of Goma, the capture of Kinshasa is unlikely. But the conflict still looks set to spread deeper into the DRC.
The speed of the M23 advance has taken many by surprise. The rebels captured Goma, a city of 2 million people, within just three days. But the conflict between the DRC and the M23, which takes its name from the 2009 date on which a deal was reached to end a revolt by members of the ethnic Tutsi group, has been grinding on intermittently for years.
