M23 rebels plan to take Goma, UN says
KINSHASA: M23 rebels plan to take over the trading hub of Goma on the Democratic Republic of Congo’s border with Rwanda to force negotiations with the Congolese government, according to a report by a United Nations independent group of experts.
The rebels, who Kinshasa says are backed by neighbouring Rwanda, want amnesty, recovery of their assets, integration into the army and political positions, according to the report, which sources six captured M23 rebels and encompasses almost a year of investigation through April.
The prisoners said the goal of M23’s leader, Sultani Makenga, was “to attack and occupy Bunagana, Rutshuru and Rumangabo towns, cut off the strategic Goma-Rutshuru road, and then take Goma,” according to the report. While the rebels have yet to attack Goma, this week they took Bunagana, which borders Uganda, increasing tensions in the resource-rich region.
The M23 previously occupied Goma in 2012 before their defeat by DR Congo’s army and UN peacekeepers.
The group was mostly inactive until November, when they began attacking Congolese security forces and stealing weapons after confidential talks broke down with the government, according to the experts’ report.
More than 170,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since that time, according to the UN refugee agency last week.
The M23 leadership is largely made up of members of DR Congo’s Tutsi community, who say they are defending the interests of Rwandan-language speakers in the region and fighting Hutu rebel groups with links to the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
The renewed rebellion has led to demonstrations against Rwanda in some Congolese cities.