The UN chief has voiced alarm over the significant advance of the M23 rebel group towards Goma, the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as the escalating insurgency has displaced more than 178,000 people in the past two weeks.
With the M23 rebels closing in on Goma, a regional hub for humanitarian efforts and home to around 2 million people, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has warned that the advance has had a devastating toll on the civilian population, heightening the risk of a broader regional war. “The secretary general calls on the M23 to immediately cease its offensive,” Guterres said in a statement. With explosions echoing from its outskirts, panic has engulfed Goma as M23 fighters advanced steadily towards the city, clashing with the Congolese army.
The Rwanda-backed M23 is one of around 100 armed groups that have been trying to get a foothold in DRC”s mineral-rich eastern region, in a decades-long conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Earlier in January, the M23 rebels captured the eastern towns of Minova, Katale and Masisi. The situation in Saké, located 25 kilometers of Goma, was uncertain, with reports from residents suggesting that the rebels had infiltrated and taken control of the town, prompting thousands of local residents to join over 178,000 people who have fled due to the M23’s recent offensive.