AFRICA/DR CONGO - M23 advances in South Kivu; airport serving Bukavu is in its sights

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "The ceasefire declared in recent days has been broken. In reality, it has only served to supply the M23 rebel movement and the Rwandan army with weapons, ammunition and provisions to their troops so that they can then continue their advance southwards," an observer from the local Church in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, tells Fides.
On February 3, the M23 militia, which had taken Goma, the capital of the Congolese province of North Kivu at the end of January, declared a ceasefire "for humanitarian reasons", which came into force on February 4 (see Fides, 4/2/2025).
"The M23 has resumed its advance in South Kivu and attacked the village of Ihusi," the observer said. "Currently, Rwandan soldiers and M23 fighters are about 60 km from the center of Bukavu. Their target is probably much closer, it is Kavumu airport, which is about 30 km from the city and is of strategic importance for supplying the Congolese army troops (FARDC) with men and resources," the observer underlines, reporting that "the situation in the city is calm. "The foreign employees of the various non-governmental organizations and international agencies have meanwhile left the city, while missionaries and local clergy remain on site."
It therefore remains uncertain whether the advance of the M23 units will stop at Kavumu airport or continue on to the capital of South Kivu province. "Bukavu is defended not only by Congolese soldiers and militiamen, but also by soldiers of the Burundian army, which has stationed 16 battalions in the region with a total of about 12,000 men. These soldiers seem to be better equipped than the soldiers of the Congolese army, who often claim that they do not even have enough to eat," the observer continues.
On a diplomatic level, the crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo will be discussed at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) this weekend. "Many promises, many words, but nothing concrete," the observer suspects. "Sanctions against Rwanda are threatened, but nothing concrete seems to have been done to put them into practice." In Goma, meanwhile, the drama continues with hundreds of thousands of displaced people forced to leave their shelters because, according to the rebel movement M23, "security conditions have been restored." "This is a political move to show that the 'new masters' of the region have the situation under control," the observer says. "However, thousands of people are forced to return to villages, in some cases 30-40 km from Goma, without the guarantee of finding their homes and the minimum conditions for a decent life," he concludes. "Many of them remain in the city in makeshift shelters or welcomed by friends and relatives." (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 12/2/2025)

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