Congo’s leader calls for massive military mobilization as Rwanda-backed rebels expand their control
Congo’s leader calls for massive military mobilization as Rwanda-backed rebels expand their control
Share:
Congo’s leader called on young people to massively enlist in the army to help fight Rwanda-backed rebels who were attempting to seize more territory in the country's east as a crucial meeting of neighbors asked the Congolese government to talk with the rebels.” Rwanda's leader also threatened to “deal” with any confrontation from South Africa regarding the conflict.
In his first public remarks since the M23 rebels advanced into eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, on Monday, President Félix Tshisekedi late Wednesday vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” to push back the rebels while reaffirming his commitment to a peaceful resolution. “Enlist massively in the army because you are the spearhead of our country,” he urged young people.
The M23 rebels in eastern Congo are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, far more than in 2012 when they first captured Goma. They are one of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east with vast deposits, estimated to be worth $24 trillion and critical to much of the world’s technology.
A summit of the regional East African bloc, meanwhile, called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in eastern Congo and “strongly urged” Tshisekedi's government to hold talks with the rebels. Tshisekedi was conspicuously absent from the virtual summit attended by Rwanda, also a member.
After capturing much of Goma, a humanitarian hub critical for the more than 6 million people displaced by the conflict in east Congo, the rebels were advancing deeper into South Kivu by Thursday morning as fighting raged. The Congolese military has been weakened after hundreds of foreign military contractors withdrew and handed over their arms to the rebels.
