DRC: M23 rebels seize eastern town as armed conflict enters alarming new phase

At least 15 people were killed and thousands displaced as the M23 rebel group on Wednesday (6 March) seized a town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from government forces amid escalating violence in the country’s conflict-hit region.
As the tutsi-led ‘March 23 Movement’ (M23) rebels took over the town of Nyanzale in eastern DRC, “the victims were killed by bombs fired indiscriminately by the M23,” a local official told the press. The town is about 130 km north by road from the provincial capital Goma and is reportedly home to some 80,000 of internally displaced people who fled fighting in surrounding areas. “We are under the control of the M23 here at Nyanzale,” a health sector source said. “They are advancing towards Kikuku. They have a lot of vehicles,” added the source who does not wish to be identified.
As the M23 has intensified its campaign in the Eastern part of the country this year, Kigali, UN experts and Western powers, including France and the United States, say that Rwanda supports the M23 in a bid to control the vast mineral resources in the region. Rwanda denies any role. The European Union this week called for dialogue between Congo and Rwanda to tackle the root causes of the conflict, saying only a political solution could end it. Eastern DRC has long been overrun by more than 120 armed groups seeking a share of the region’s bountiful resources as they carry out mass killings. “The emergency in the DRC is one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world,” says the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).