On the shores of Lake Kivu, Goma residents were busy filling up plastic jerrycans with lake water. Less than a week since Rwanda-backed rebels claimed control of the city, basic services like water, internet and electricity were completely cut off.
In 2012, when M23 rebels appeared poised to seize control of a major city in eastern Congo, western countries suspended aid to put pressure on Rwanda to withdraw its support.
Goma, the capital of North Kivu, is both a strategic economic hub and a trade conduit to Rwanda. Rwanda frames its involvement as a necessary step to neutralise FDLR, an armed group with historical ti
The rebels, which Rwanda denies supporting, have long been funded at least in part by the illicit mineral trade.
Local sources said Kigali-backed fighters were advancing on a new front and had seized two districts in South Kivu province, after the rebel group’s capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.
President Paul Kagame said Rwanda was ready for "confrontation" as he rejected criticism over his backing for M23 rebels who were pushing south on Thursday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after capturing the major city of Goma.
Kagame's comments clearly suggested that he wants South Africa to back off from DR Congo, where its military involvement dates back to the late 1990s. It first joined the UN's peacekeeping mission, Monusco, following the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994.
The leaders of DR Congo and Rwanda are meeting at an emergency East African summit in Kenya on Wednesday as M23 rebels, backed by Rwandan troops, tighten their grip on the strategic eastern city of Goma.
Fighting across the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and "is still very much ongoing ... it's not over yet," senior U.N. official in Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, said on Monday after Rwandan-backed M23 rebels claimed to have control of Goma.
In the last 48 hours, two U.N. peacekeepers from South Africa and one from Uruguay were killed and 11 peacekeepers were injured and hospitalized.
Residents in eastern Congo’s largest city of Goma are fleeing after Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces.