On Monday, a rebel force reportedly supported by Rwanda made its way into the Congolese city of Goma, raising the possibility of a brutal new phase in the 30-year conflict that was sparked by the 1994 genocide.
After rebels overran thousands of Congolese troops as well as United Nations and African peacekeepers, residents of the city, which is located on Congo’s border with Rwanda and has long served as a conduit for humanitarian supplies and a safe haven for civilians, reported shooting and heavy bombardment.
An lengthy conflict over Goma might serve as a preliminary test of the Trump administration’s readiness to get involved in a conflict involving one of America’s closest African friends.
The March 23 Movement, or M23, is the name of the rebel organization that declared early Monday that it had taken over Goma. M23, which was named after a failed peace deal in 2009, has its origins in the mid-1990s fighting in eastern Congo.
It was established in part to fend off the migration of millions of refugees, primarily of Hutu ethnicity, including many of the perpetrators of the Rwandan Tutsi atrocities and members of the former Rwandan administration.
The majority of today’s M23 are Tutsis from the Congo, who claim to be protecting their community members from being persecuted by the Congolese military and other armed organizations.
According to U.N. experts, the present Rwandan government has long supported the group, and Rwanda has sent some 4,000 of its own soldiers to fight with M23.
The Congolese army appeared to be resisting, according to people within and outside Goma.
According to Rwandan military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronald Rwivanga, weapons fired from Congolese territory killed five civilians on the Rwandan side of the border.
The final two towns outside of Goma that were not yet under M23’s control were taken last week. Its fighters destroyed shacks and ordered everyone to evacuate as they tore through large displacement camps on the city’s outskirts.
In a frantic attempt to find refuge, hundreds of thousands of civilians—the majority of whom were women and children—flew into Goma as a result.
In addition to Goma’s normal citizens, U.N. authorities estimated on Monday that over a million displaced individuals were now within the city.
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