Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, early Monday, as the United Nations described a “mass panic” among its 2 million people and Congo’s government said the rebel advance was a “declaration of war.”
The M23 rebels announced the city’s capture in a statement minutes before a 48-hour deadline imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons expired.
In a statement, the rebels urged residents of Goma to remain calm and for members of the Congolese military to assemble at the central stadium.
The M23 rebels’ offensive in the heart of the mineral-rich region threatens to dramatically worsen one of Africa’s longest wars and further displace civilians. According to a United Nations report, over a third of the population of North Kivu province where Goma is located are currently displaced and the capture of Goma will likely exacerbate the situation.
Late Sunday night, UN peacekeepers began to process members of the military who had begun to surrender on the outskirts of the city.
Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya made a statement in a video posted on X calling for the protection of civilians and saying that the country is “in a war situation where the news is changing.”
Late Sunday, the U.N.’s special representative for Congo told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that with the airport shut down and roads blocked in the vast region’s humanitarian and security hub, “we are trapped.”
