A day after taking control of the second-largest city in eastern Congo, Bukavu, whose citizens seemed resigned to their destiny under the new rulers, Rwanda-backed rebels reinforced their hold on the city on Monday.
The 1.3 million-person metropolis was abandoned by Congolese army and taken over by M23 insurgents on Sunday. The rebels captured Goma in late January, while Bukavu is about 63 miles (101 km) to the south.
The M23 is the most well-known of over 100 armed organisations fighting for control of the billions of dollars in mineral riches in eastern Congo, which is essential for a large portion of global technology. According to U.N. experts, some 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda are helping the rebels.
The decades-long fighting has displaced more than 6 million people in the region, creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
As the rebels made their way into Bukavu, its streets were flooded by residents attempting to leave and looters filling flour sacks with what they could find. A pall of silence set in later as residents and business owners braced for M23’s entrance into the city center.
On Monday morning, people gradually started coming out again while the rebels patrolled major intersections in the city.
“People are still scared to go out because of the insecurity so it’s not business as usual yet,” David Balezi, a shopkeeper in Bukavu, told The Associated Press.
Bukavu’s border crossing to Rwanda was closed on Monday morning, as were most shops and stores while traffic gradually picked up again.
“Now we thank God that the situation is OK, even if we don’t know what’s coming. Whatever happens, we will live with it,” David Munyaga, a resident of Bukavu, said.
On Monday, Erasto Bahati Musanga, the rebel-appointed governor of North-Kivu province announced that Goma and Bukavu’s ports will reopen Tuesday. Navigation on Lake Kivu, one of the largest lakes in Africa, had been banned since late January, during the rebels offensive on Goma.
In rebel-controlled Goma, hundreds of protesters gathered to call for the departure of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO, and the withdrawal of troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which includes countries ranging from Congo to South Africa.
The protestors organized a sit-in in front of the MONUSCO headquarters in Goma, with some brandishing signs and chanting slogans calling for the resignation of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi.
“The war does not end in Congo, why? They have nothing to do here, they should leave,” Bauma Sukali, a protester, said.
Another protester, Fiston Nsabimana, said: “Tshisekedi is not able to ensure peace, let him leave power.”
