Rebel forces have been seen in the center of Bukavu, the second largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on Sunday, residents told CNN, as the fighters push to expand their foothold in the mineral-rich region.
Rebel coalition, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), which includes the M23 armed group, said in a statement Saturday it had taken control of the Kavumu airport in South Kivu and forced government forces to retreat “in disarray, abandoning the city of Bukavu.”
Bukavu is the provincial capital, where residents also reported looting and fighters in the streets Saturday.
“We have control of Bukavu since this morning,” a spokesperson for the AFC rebel alliance, Victor Tesongo, told CNN Sunday.
The DRC government has not confirmed the claimed takeover. CNN has approached authorities for comment on the rebels’ claims.
Bukavu resident Elie Cirhuza told CNN he saw M23 fighters on the streets Sunday. “I saw with my eyes the soldiers of the M23. They say they will soon begin to restore order in the city,” said Cirhuza, who lives close to the city center.
He said that government troops were nowhere in sight. “I have not yet seen any government soldiers because downstairs from my house is where they gathered the night before yesterday to flee,” Cirhuza added.
A DRC military spokesperson, Sylvain Ekenge Ekenge, told Reuters on Friday that government forces had retreated from Bukavu after the rebels occupied the airport.
Another resident, Isaac Musharhamina Goldman, said the rebels have occupied strategic points in the city, including the provincial governor’s office and residence.
“They are in the three communes of the city, including the office and residence of the governor of the province, the Saïo military camp, and the site of the National Communication and Satellite Network,” he said. “They also control the two border entrances.”
According to local reports, provincial governor Jean-Jacques Purusi Sadiki left Bukavu before the rebels advanced into the city. CNN has reached out to him for comment.
The rapid advance into Bukavu comes less than three weeks after the rebels claimed the takeover of Goma, the largest city and capital of the neighboring North Kivu province on January 27.
Fighting in Goma between the rebels and DRC’s military left more than 3,000 people dead, according to the government.
Rebel spokesman Tesongo told CNN that the claimed capture of Goma and Bukavu marked the group’s largest territorial acquisition. The cities, with a joint population of more than three million people, are among the most populated in the DRC.
Who’s backing the rebels?
The DRC and many Western countries accuse its neighbor Rwanda of backing M23, which is comprised mainly of ethnic Tutsis who left the Congolese army more than a decade ago.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, however, told CNN this month he was unaware whether his nation’s troops were in DRC.
Since 2022, M23 – which claims to defend the interest of minority Rwandophone communities, including the Tutsis – has waged a renewed rebellion against the DRC government, occupying a large expanse in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and Uganda.
Now a part of the AFC rebel alliance, the group has also taken over resource-rich communities in the east such as Nyabibwe and Rubaya, which harbors one of the world’s largest deposits of coltan, a valuable mineral used in the production of smartphones.
Calls for a ceasefire from foreign and regional leaders have failed to deter the rebels’ quest for territory.
