Numerous Congolese troops escape to Rwanda

On Monday, January 27, M23 militants took control of the border city of Goma, forcing dozens of troops from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to flee to Rwanda.

Rwandan army and security officials disarmed the Congolese troops who had entered the country at the Grande Barriere border checkpoint in Rubavu District.

Since late 2021, the Congolese army has been engaged in combat with the M23 rebels. They have encircled Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, in recent weeks. On Thursday, Peter Cirimwami, the military governor of Goma, was killed in combat.

The rebels halted all operations on Lake Kivu and blocked airspace above the beleaguered city on Sunday.

After giving the Congolese government coalition a 48-hour ultimatum, the rebels seized over the city, which is home to around two million people, on Sunday night.

Members of the Congolese military gave over their guns to MONUSCO, the United Nations mission in the war-torn nation, and submitted to the rebels.

Relations between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which accuses its neighbor of aiding the rebels, have been impacted by the conflict. Rwanda denies these charges, outlining its security concerns over the Congolese army’s cooperation with the FDLR, a terrorist organization recognized by the UN and established by those responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. On Friday, the DR Congo shut down its embassy in Kigali.

Kenyan President William Ruto, who chairs the East African Community, has called for an unprecedented meeting of heads of state to discuss the situation in response to the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Speaking to Congolese leader Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Ruto advocated a resumption to the Luanda process, an Angola-mediated effort that fell apart in mid-December after the Congolese government rejected the idea of holding direct peace negotiations with the rebels.

Ruto stated on Sunday that “the rapidly worsening peace and security situation in the DRC is of grave concern,” and that the EAC presidents will convene within the next 48 hours.

In a briefing on Sunday, the UN Security Council stated that rather than pursuing a military solution to a long-standing issue whose underlying causes have been disregarded, the aforementioned “current crisis could have been averted had the DRC government demonstrated, a genuine commitment to peace.”

The Congolese government was charged by Ambassador Ernest Rwamucyo with “complete mismanagement of the complex problem” in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to Rwamucyo, the current state of affairs is similar to the crisis that occurred in 2012 and 2013, when the M23 seized Goma and was ultimately routed, forcing its fighters to evacuate to neighboring countries. In November 2021, the rebel group reappeared and accused the government of disregarding peace accords that would disarm them and ensure the safety of beleaguered Congolese people.