The M23 rebel group was advancing towards another city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a UN expert said on Friday, just days after seizing the key eastern city of Goma.
Bukavu is the capital of South Kivu province and home to hundreds of thousands of people.
Rwandan-backed M23 rebels entered Goma, the capital of North Kivu and the largest city in eastern Congo, on Monday.
Large parts of the city are now under rebel control in what’s considered the worst escalation of a long-running conflict in more than a decade.
UN expert says M23 not far from Bukavu
UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said that M23 fighters and Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) were around 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Bukavu and were moving towards a major airport, north of the city.
Rwanda denies backing the rebels, but the UN has made repeated calls for Kigali to withdraw forces from DRC and bring an end to support for the group.
The UN meanwhile said that 700 people have been killed and another 2,800 injured since the latest escalation.
The DRC accuses Rwanda of looking to exploit the region’s mineral wealth. Rwanda denies this and says its primary objective is to eradicate a group composed of Hutu militants formed in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
SADC leaders pledge ‘unwavering commitment’
Leaders from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held crisis talks in Zimbabwe on Friday.
The regional bloc reaffirmed its “solidarity and unwavering commitment to continue supporting the DRC in its pursuit of safeguarding its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
SADC leaders called for an immediate joint summit of SADC and the East African Community (EAC) of which Rwanda and the DRC are members.
The summit condemned the deadly attacks on the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) regional intervention force.
The SADC mission began deploying troops in DRC in December 2023 after Kinshasa sought support under the bloc’s mutual defense pact.
kb/zc (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
