DRC condemns M23’s alleged Goma takeover as ‘declaration of war’ by Rwanda

The United Nations has issued a grim warning about the worsening humanitarian situation in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels has spread to regional capital Goma, with the latter claiming to have taken control of the key city.
The sound of heavy gunfire could be heard on Monday (27 January) across Goma, a provincial capital of about two million locals and internally displaced people, just hours after the Rwanda-backed M23 fighters entered the city. Shortly before the expiry of M23’s 48-hour deadline given to Congolese troops to surrender their weapons, the rebel group issued a statement claiming to have captured Goma. But this claim was later disputed by senior UN official in Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, who said that fighting across the DRC’s largest eastern city “is still very much ongoing … it’s not over yet.” UN’s head of peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, described the situation on the ground as “volatile and dangerous,” adding that “certainly the risks of a broader humanitarian disaster are very high.”
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Congolese and Rwandan troops exchanged fire on Monday along their shared border, risking a rapid escalation of the conflict. DRC government’s spokesman Patrick Muyaya issued a statement confirming the presence of the Rwandan army in Goma, stressing that Kinshasa “continues to work to avoid carnage and loss of human life in view of the manifest intentions of Rwanda.” The Congolese government described the capture of Goma by the M23 rebels as a “declaration of war” by Rwanda. The border between the DRC and Rwanda near the besieged regional capital was reportedly closed on Monday.