Ceasefire in east Congo appears to crumble

6/2/2025 6:06

R wandan-backed M23 rebels have seized control of a mining town

in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province,

eight sources said on Wednesday, in an apparent violation of a

unilateral ceasefire they declared this week.



The capture of Nyabibwe on Lake Kivu takes the rebels a step

closer to the provincial capital Bukavu some 70 km (40 miles)

south, a city the rebels said last week they had no intention of

capturing. M23 announced a ceasefire on Monday.



Eight people, including local officials, a civil society

representative, rebels and an international security source,

confirmed Nyabibwe had fallen to the rebels.



"There have been clashes since 5 a.m., and it was at 9 a.m.

that the town fell into the hands of the rebels. They're in the

centre of the town at the moment," said the civil society

leader, who like the other sources spoke on condition of

anonymity.



Nyabibwe, where mines produce gold, coltan and other

metals, is a commercial hub more than halfway between Goma, the

capital of North Kivu province that the rebels took last week,

and Bukavu.



Congo's Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya told Reuters

rebels violated the ceasefire at night and were facing

resistance from Congolese armed forces around Nyabibwe.



Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance rebel

coalition that includes M23, confirmed the group moved into

Nyabibwe. "They attacked us and we defended ourselves," he told

Reuters.



This advance could indicate M23 had renewed push towards

Bukavu that the group launched after they seized Goma last week.



The capture of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's

largest city displaced hundreds of thousands of people and

fanned fears of a wider regional war.



Congo accuses Rwanda of using the M23 to pillage valuable

mineral deposits. Rwanda says it is acting in self-defence and

to protect ethnic Tutsis.







'STAGGERING' HUMAN TOLL



The scale of the civilian harm was still emerging in Goma

where people last week were caught in the crossfire and fighting

destroyed buildings, overwhelmed hospitals and left bodies

strewn in the streets.



The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

on Wednesday estimated at least 2,800 people died in Goma.



"The human toll is staggering. We and our partners are

struggling to assess the full extent of the situation,"

spokesperson Jens Laerke said via email.



International Criminal Court prosecutors said they were

closely monitoring events after reports of possible war crimes

in the battle for Goma.



The International Committee of the Red Cross said its

medical warehouse in Goma was looted last week and would take

months to restore.



The city's Bishop Willy Ngumbi on Wednesday deplored damage

to a maternity ward from explosives and called on Rwanda, Congo

and Burundi - which also has troops in the region aiding Congo -

to hold talks to prevent an escalation of the conflict.



In the capital Kinshasa, lawmakers in the National Assembly

held a lengthy closed-door extraordinary session to discuss the

crisis ahead of a summit with eastern and southern African

leaders in Tanzania this weekend.



A diplomatic source said Rwanda opposed the presence of

troops from the 16-member Southern African Development Community

that are supporting Congo and which extended their mission late

last year.



Despite renewed fighting, Malawi on Wednesday cited the

ceasefire in its order for its troops to withdraw from the

force.