Eastern Congo is rich in gold and other valuable minerals such as copper, cobalt, coltan, tantalum and tin, which are used in batteries and electronics. This week saw the worst escalation of the long-running conflict in eastern Congo, the biggest since 2012.
As the war in Ukraine rages and fighting in Gaza ignites a crisis in the Middle East, global security observers are keeping a close eye on another part of the world: Congo, where a new hotbed of conflict appears to be opening up. The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, refuses peace talks until Rwanda withdraws its troops from the east of his country. Tutsi rebels from the M23 guerrilla group, backed by Rwanda, are taking over much of the east of the country after seizing the millionaire city of Goma.
For more than 30 years, since the Rwandan genocide in 1994, conflict in the mineral-rich eastern part of DR Congo, which borders Rwanda, has continued, the BBC explains.
Multiple rebel groups are battling the Congolese army for control of the country’s 102 million people. Eastern Congo is rich in gold and other valuable minerals such as copper, cobalt, coltan, tantalum and tin, which are used in batteries and electronics. This week saw the worst escalation of the long-running conflict in eastern Congo, the worst since 2012, according to Reuters. In the fighting so far, more than 100 people have been killed and almost 1000 wounded, AFP reports.
TENSIONS IN CONGO
A weeks-long advance by the M23 rebel group culminated in the capture of Goma, a key city of two million people between Lake Kivu and the border with Rwanda. M23 fighters and Rwandan soldiers entered Goma on Sunday, seizing the airport and other parts of the main commercial hub near the mining towns that mine sought-after ores such as gold, tin and coltan, a key component of mobile phones, according to AFP, and batteries for electric vehicles.
The eight countries of the East African Community held an emergency summit and called for an immediate ceasefire in eastern Congo and for Congo to negotiate with M23. Angola brokered a failed attempt at talks last month before M23 launched its offensive. Now Angola has invited the leaders of Congo and Rwanda to an emergency meeting. With Angola’s mediation, a ceasefire agreement was signed last year, but fighting quickly resumed.
REBEL OFFENSIVE
This week, the UN Security Council called for an end to the rebel offensive, without mentioning Rwanda. Regional leaders urged the DR Congo government in a videoconference summit to “engage directly with all parties concerned, including M23 and other armed groups.” In an emergency meeting on Tuesday, the African Union called on M23 to “lay down their arms,” also without mentioning Rwanda by name, angering Congo. Congo, the UN, the US and France claim Rwanda has control over M23, but Rwanda denies this.
INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE
Despite international pressure, the Congolese president has refused to speak to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame. Since the start of the conflict, Rwandan President Kagame has repeatedly denied that he supports the M23 rebels, who are well-equipped, armed and trained. The recent fighting has intensified an already dire humanitarian crisis. According to the UN, there are food and water shortages, and half a million people have been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of the year.
At the end of 2023, the UN estimated that there were almost seven million refugees and internally displaced people in DR Congo, of whom 2.5 million are in North Kivu province alone. The UN, the US, China and the European Union have called on Rwanda to withdraw its forces. However, Rwandan representative Vincent Karega told AFP that the M23 advance would continue. Perhaps as far as Kinshasa, he added. Rwandan authorities claim that their aim is to destroy the DR Congo-based FDLR armed group.
