By Idorenyin UMOREN
UYO 

|FOREIGN| Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have tightened their grip on Goma, the biggest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), signalling a major blow to the Congolese army and a serious escalation in a years-long conflict that has seen hundreds of people killed and millions displaced.

March 23 Movement (M23) fighters entered Goma on Sunday and claimed to have taken control of the city a day later. Three days of clashes between Congolese armed forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have killed more than 100 people and wounded nearly 1,000 people in Goma.

On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, while fighting in the city had largely eased, intermittent gunfire continued in the Goma’s northern areas, including Katoyi, Mabanga, Majengo, Kibwe and Turunga, where the situation “remains tense”, according to local DRC media outlets.

In a post on X, Bertrand Bisimwa, the head of M23’s political wing, said the group’s fighters were in the process of bringing “the last pockets of insecurity [in Goma] … under control”.

“Our army is working hard to guarantee total security, complete tranquility and definitive peace, as is the case for all their compatriots living in liberated zones,” Bisimwa said.

As residents in Goma emerged from their homes on Wednesday, they saw the M23 armed group and Rwandan troops had seized the airport and were controlling most of the city centre and neighbourhoods.

“After days of heavy fighting, there’s no audible sound of gunfire in the city centre and the streets normally packed with cars during rush hour and the bustling markets are relatively empty,” Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb said, reporting from Kenya, citing Goma residents.

Speaking to AFP news agency by phone, Rwanda’s regional ambassador Vincent Karega said the armed group would not stop its offensive at Goma.

“They [M23] will continue into South Kivu, because Goma cannot be an end on its own, unless in between they get good dialogue and negotiation with the government in Kinshasa, which I doubt.”

He added that it is “possible” M23 fighters could press beyond eastern DRC because DRC’s “forces and military capabilities” are “concentrated in Goma”.

Five diplomatic and security sources told the news agency Reuters that M23 fighters were on Wednesday advancing south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.

The report could not be independently verified.

|TheNewsDESK|

*With inputs from REUTERS, AFP, local DRC media and other agency reports.