Rwandan army ‘ready to invade DRC’ and help rebels seize city
Rwandan army ‘ready to invade DRC’ and help rebels seize city
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Intelligence sources suggest battle for Congolese regional capital Goma is imminent before UN crisis talks on Monday. Large numbers of troops from Rwanda have been pouring across the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help rebels seize the regional capital of Goma before an emergency UN meeting about the crisis takes place on Monday, intelligence officials have warned.
![[People walk on a crowded street in an African city]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d715ee28a1d4b25c76febf004a6af1f4e6120893/0_0_6000_3601/master/6000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) soldiers are believed to have secretly crossed into the eastern DRC over the past few days to assist a lightning offensive by the M23 militia. Officials speaking to the Observer on condition of anonymity added that the RDF had cranked up the pressure on the embattled Congolese city by amassing vast numbers of troops on the Rwandan side of the border, a few hundred metres from central Goma. Most of the RDF’s most senior commanders are also said to have been deployed in the Rwandan city of Gisenyi, less than a mile across the border from Goma.
“The Rwandan army is lined up at the border, ready to invade,” said a source who has in-depth knowledge of the RDF and is privy to real-time intelligence. Fierce skirmishes between M23 advance units and the Congolese army were reported on the outskirts of Goma throughout Saturday. Three South African peacekeepers were among those killed attempting to defend the city.
The frontline appears to be moving ever close to Goma’s outskirts, with one source saying the fighting was as close as Nzulo, almost within the city limits, having bypassed the vast refugee camps that hold more than a million people displaced by the fighting.
