Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swathes of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops to surrender.
In a defiant televised address on Wednesday, Tshisekedi declared that his country would not be “humiliated or crushed” as regional leaders push for negotiations with the rebels.
According to multiple local reports, the rebels are also advancing toward the center of the neighboring South Kivu after seizing towns in the province.
The Congolese government accused its neighbor Rwanda of equipping the M23 with both weapons and troops. Rwanda does not deny the allegations but has criticized DR Congo for collaborating with a Hutu militia group against a mainly Tutsi rebel group, the CNDP, which M23 grew out of.
Hutu militias carried out the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda in 1994.
Tshisekedi was not present when East African leaders met on Wednesday to find solutions to the crisis. At that meeting, they urged him “to directly engage with all stakeholders, including the M23 and other armed groups that have grievances.”
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who attended the meeting, said the only path to peace was for all parties to engage in dialogue and for mediators to understand the context of the conflict.
Several people, including foreign peacekeepers, have reportedly died and hundreds more are injured as Congolese forces battle to push back against the rebels.
Foreign mercenaries believed to be helping DR Congo’s army have also surrendered, according to Rwanda’s military, which said Wednesday it “received and escorted over 280 Romanian mercenaries who had been fighting alongside the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) in Eastern part of DRC.”
How could the conflict play out?
As tensions boil over in eastern DR Congo, authorities are faced with “two possible scenarios that may unfold,” according to an analysis by Ladd Serwat, a senior African analyst for ACLED, a UK-based group that collects data on violent conflict.
“The control of Goma by M23 and Rwanda Defense Force could push the Congolese government and regional allies to negotiate,” Serwat said. Otherwise, he added, “Kinshasa could push for a military solution and widen the conflict through increased battles to retake Goma and cross-border attacks into Rwanda.”
Tshisekedi has previously threatened to go to war with Rwanda. Kagame has responded in kind.
“We are ready to fight,” Kagame told French network France 24 in June last year, adding: “We are not afraid of anything.”