M23 Enter Bukavu after DRC Troops Flee
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The Congo River Alliance (AFC), including the instrumental Tutsi-led M23 insurgents (backed by Rwanda), has entered Bukavu (the regional capital of South Kivu) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This follows the fall of Goma, Masisi, and Minova.
AFC and M23 forces first seized the airport of Kavumu (north of Bukavu) – then proceeded to expand to the edges of Bukavu. Reports claim that M23 forces have entered this city of 1.3 million people in eastern parts of the DRC.
Reuters reports, “Rwandan-backed M23 rebels advanced on Sunday into the center of Bukavu, the second-largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, meeting little resistance from government troops, witnesses and the armed group said.”
The European Union declared that this bloc is “urgently considering all options following the news from Bukavu… The ongoing violation of the DRC’s territorial integrity will not go unanswered.”
However, African nations don’t need lectures from the Arab and European world – or from the Turks – who enslaved various African ethnic groups throughout this continent. Accordingly, the European Union should seek to support a diplomatic compromise – rather than statements they can’t back.
The BBC reports, “The capture of Bukavu, a city estimated to have an urban population of more than a million people, would represent an unprecedented expansion of territory under the M23’s control since the latest insurgency started in 2022.”
AFC and M23 forces were emboldened by recent events on the ground in Goma. Hence, Bukavu was a natural next stage concerning the geopolitics of Rwanda.
The New York Times reports, “With the capture of Bukavu, a city of more than a million people that sits on the edge of a crystalline lake, the M23 rebels would now control the two largest trading hubs in Congo’s mineral-rich east.”
The dire situation of the armed forces of the DRC was summed up when it began to recruit civilians to protect Bukavu. In Goma, the head of the DRC had been using European mercenaries. Therefore, M23 rounded up hundreds of European mercenaries (mainly Romanians) before deporting them from the DRC.
AP News reports, “The fighting in Congo has connections with a decadeslong ethnic conflict. M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and others in Rwanda. Many Hutus fled to Congo after the genocide and founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group. Rwanda says the group is “fully integrated” into the Congolese military, which denies the charges.”
Regional nations and the international community need to reach out to Rwanda and understand the genuine concerns of this country.
Also, the crisis within the armed forces of the DRC needs addressing – and rapidly.
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi and her website – Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK
http://facebook.com/moderntokyotimes