BUKAVU, CONGO: Rwanda-backed rebels reached the centre of east Congo‘s second-largest city, Bukavu, Sunday and were present in most parts of the city after little resistance from govt forces in an unprecedented expansion of their reach in theyears-long fighting.
AP journalists witnessed residents cheering on the rebels in central Bukavu as they walked and drove around the city centre after a days-long march from the region’s major city of Goma 101km away, which they captured late last month. Several parts of the city, however, remained deserted.
The rebels are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east. The fighting has displaced over 6 million people – world’s largest humanitarian crisis. It was not clear if M23 had taken decisive control of the city of about 1.3 million people.