{"id":225266,"date":"2025-01-27T12:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T12:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/27\/what-is-the-fighting-in-democratic-republic-of-congo-about-and-is-rwanda-invading\/"},"modified":"2025-01-27T12:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T12:13:07","slug":"what-is-the-fighting-in-democratic-republic-of-congo-about-and-is-rwanda-invading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/27\/what-is-the-fighting-in-democratic-republic-of-congo-about-and-is-rwanda-invading\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo about – and is Rwanda invading?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"What<\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) risks spilling over into a regional war, it is feared, as Rwanda-backed rebels claim to have captured the key city of Goma.<\/p>\n

The leader of a rebel alliance that includes the M23 group said fighters have taken the city<\/a><\/strong>, after making significant territorial gains in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people are being wounded every day as fighting in the central African country continues, worsening the humanitarian crisis there.<\/p>\n

There is also an international element to the decades-long situation, with UN peacekeepers killed in the conflict and Rwandan troops accused of fighting alongside the rebels.<\/p>\n

Sky News’ Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir<\/a><\/strong> says the situation is “extremely volatile” and there are fears of a Rwandan “invasion”.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n DRC troops deployed outside Goma. Pic: AP
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Who are the M23 rebels and what do they want?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The name M23 refers to a March 23, 2009 accord which ended a previous revolt in eastern DRC led by ethnic Tutsis.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

More on Democratic Republic Of Congo<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

M23 has accused the DRC<\/a><\/strong> government of not living up to that peace deal and fully integrating Congolese Tutsis into the army and administration.<\/p>\n

It is mostly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the army and launched its current rebellion in 2022.<\/p>\n

It has vowed to defend Tutsi interests, particularly against ethnic Hutu militias such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which was founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda<\/a><\/strong> after participating in the 1994 genocide of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player<\/p>\n


\n \"Internally
\n
\n 2:46<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Displaced civilians in DRC face fear and uncertainty<\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Eyewitness: Sky News team in DRC attacked as civilians flee<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

However critics have claimed it’s a pretext for Rwanda to obtain economic and political influence over eastern DRC.<\/p>\n

M23 controls territory in the east of the country, including the mining region of Rubaya which has rich deposits of coltan, a mineral used in the production of smartphones. It’s estimated M23 gets $800,000 (\u00a3640,000) a month through a production tax on the region, the UN says.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n \"Fleeing\n <\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n Families have been fleeing amid clashes around Goma. Pic: Reuters
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

How is Rwanda involved?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rwanda, which borders the M23-controlled region of the DRC, has been accused of supporting the group and there have been increasing fears that its actions are essentially an “invasion”.<\/p>\n

UN experts say Rwanda has thousands of troops in the region which have been operating alongside the rebels in a violation of the DRC’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n \"\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In a report for the UN Security Council, the panel of experts said Rwandan forces’ “de facto control and direction over M23 operations” renders Rwanda “liable for the actions of M23”.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the UN’s special representative in the DRC said that M23 and Rwandan forces had entered the outskirts of the city of Goma, which rebels have subsequently claimed to have captured.<\/p>\n

The DRC has now severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda. A “declaration of war” by the DRC against Rwanda would risk turning “into a regional conflict in East Africa”, according to Darren Davids, an analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit.<\/p>\n

Why is Goma important?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A city home to around two million people, Goma is a key regional hub for trade, security and humanitarian efforts.<\/p>\n

Since 2021, DRC forces have been supported by troops from neighbouring Burundi as well as UN peacekeepers in keeping the rebels away from the city.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

M23 briefly controlled Goma in 2012 and it now claims to once again be in control.<\/p>\n

Its fall to the rebels would also have a “catastrophic impact on hundreds of thousands of civilians, putting them at risk of heightened exposure to human rights violations and abuses”, said Ravina Shamdasani from the UN’s human rights office.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) risks spilling over into a regional war, it is feared, as Rwanda-backed rebels claim to have captured the key city of Goma. The leader of a rebel alliance that includes the M23 group said fighters have taken the city, after making significant territorial gains in recent weeks. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/01\/768x432\/skynews-drc-congo_6811927.jpg?20250127113131","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38993,47,75,37545,22469,60],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225268,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225266\/revisions\/225268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}