The M23 rebel group is making significant advances towards another major city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a senior UN official reported on Friday.
Just days after seizing the strategic city of Goma, the Rwandan-backed fighters are now approximately 60 kilometres north of Bukavu, according to UN peacekeeping expert Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, is home to hundreds of thousands of residents.
The M23 rebels are also heading towards a major airport north of the city, which Lacroix noted would represent a critical development.
A UN spokesman announced that staff are being relocated from Bukavu as a precautionary measure.
M23 is one of over 100 armed groups operating in resource-rich eastern Congo and has been embroiled in conflict with government troops for several years.
M23 leader Corneille Nangaa declared on Thursday that the group has “come to stay in Goma” and has announced plans to march on the capital, Kinshasa, to unseat President Félix Tshisekedi.
Despite Rwanda’s denial of support for the rebels, the UN has repeatedly urged Kigali to withdraw its forces from Congo and cease its backing of the M23.
The global body reported that at least 700 individuals have died in the recent clashes since Sunday.
Additionally, the fighting has left 2,800 people injured, and the toll is anticipated to rise as more information emerges, said UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric late on Friday.
The escalating conflict in eastern Congo is creating a human rights crisis, the UN human rights office cautioned earlier on Friday, citing a surge in reports of sexual violence.
The Geneva-based agency, formally known as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, indicated that it has received reports from Goma and combat zones in neighbouring South Kivu regarding instances of mass rape.
“We are in the process of verifying reports that 52 women were raped by Congolese troops in South Kivu, including alleged instances of gang rape,” the office stated, highlighting that such violence is not new.
“Conflict-related sexual violence has been a grievous aspect of armed conflict in eastern DRC for decades,” the OHCHR remarked.
Fighting in the region has intensified in recent days since the M23 rebel group claimed control over Goma, situated on Lake Kivu.
In the territories it has captured, the M23 has “occupied schools and hospitals,” displaced local residents, and “subjected the civilian population to forced conscription and forced labour,” the UN reported.
(dpa/NAN)
