Moses Sawasawa\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Congo, the United States and UN experts accuse neighboring Rwanda of backing M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago. <\/p>\n
Since 2022, M23 \u2013 which claims to defend the interests of minority communities including the Tutsi \u2013 has waged a renewed rebellion against the Congolese government, occupying a large expanse in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and Uganda. <\/p>\n
The province, of which Goma is the capital, is home to rare minerals \u2013 including vast deposits of coltan \u2013 which is crucial to the production of phones and computers. <\/p>\n
Van de Perre said Wednesday that while the UN hoped the ceasefire would hold, \u201cit appears that is not the case,\u201d with ongoing fighting reported along a main road toward the South Kivu capital of Bukavu. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn Bukavu, tensions are rising as the M23 moves closer, just 50km north of the city,\u201d Van de Perre told reporters, calling the situation in South Kivu province \u201cparticularly concerning.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rebel groups appear to continue gaining ground in the mineral-rich eastern region, capturing a town 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Bukavu, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, citing civil society officials and residents. <\/p>\n
Van de Perre said the UN is \u201cgravely concerned\u201d at losing Bukavu\u2019s Kavumu airport, which she said is \u201ccritical for ongoing civilian and humanitarian use around South Kivu.\u201d <\/p>\n
The rebel alliance has emphasized previously it has \u201cno intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas,\u201d where many displaced people from Goma have fled. \u201cHowever, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n
Rebels have made a string of territorial acquisitions in recent weeks in the nation\u2019s east and the group\u2019s leader has expressed the intention of capturing more cities, including the national capital Kinshasa. <\/p>\n
Kinshasa lies around 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) away from Goma, on the vast country\u2019s western edge. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to fight until we get to Kinshasa. We have come to Goma to stay; we are not going to withdraw. We are going to move forward from Goma to Bukavu \u2026 up to Kinshasa,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
In Goma, Van de Perre said the rebel group is consolidating control over the city and territories of North Kivu that it has already seized. <\/p>\n
The Congolese government has not confirmed the rebels\u2019 takeover but acknowledged their presence in Goma. Last week, a new military governor was appointed for North Kivu, which was described by the Congolese military as being \u201cunder a state of siege.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe remain under occupation (in Goma). The situation is still highly volatile with a persistent risk of escalation,\u201d Van de Perre said Wednesday. \u201cAll exit routes from Goma are under their control and the airport, also under M23 control, is closed until further notice.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe escalating violence has led to immense human suffering, displacement and a growing humanitarian crisis,\u201d Van de Perre said. <\/p>\n
Nearly 2,000 civilians are sheltering at UN peacekeeping bases in Goma, she said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n
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Nearly 3,000 people have been killed in the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations, after it was captured by rebels following days of fierce fighting with the Congolese army. Vivian van de Perre, deputy head of the UN mission in DR Congo, said Wednesday that \u201cso <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}