Tshisekedi backed out of Wednesday's meeting with Kagame. Instead, he announced that he would address the people later in the day, for the first time since Rwanda-backed rebels launched their ongoing offensive in eastern Congo.
Congolese government forces claim to still control parts of Goma in eastern Congo-Kinshasa, but according to eyewitnesses, rebels from the Rwanda-backed M23 and Rwandan soldiers are the only ones seen on the streets. More than 1,200 Congolese soldiers have surrendered and are now at the UN's airbase in the country, according to a source within the security service.
Bombs fell and people died everywhere. We saw dead bodies, says 24-year-old Destin Jamaica Kela, who fled Goma to Rwanda.
Rwandan Ambassador Vicent Karega claims on Wednesday that M23 may continue its offensive into the neighboring province of South Kivu – or even further.
Roots of the genocide
On Tuesday, it was reported that M23 had taken control of Goma's airport, which has functioned as a hub for international aid and peace efforts in the troubled and impoverished region.
The latest week's offensive marks a significant escalation in conflict-ridden eastern Congo, which has been the scene of fighting between rival groups for decades in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. The 1994 massacres of Tutsis are seen as the origin of M23, with lingering ethnic divisions between Hutus and Tutsis spilling over the border into Congo with large refugee flows.
M23 consists largely of fighters from the Tutsi ethnic group who broke away from the Congolese army in 2012. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who is said to support the rebels, is also a Tutsi.
Minerals for technology
The enormous natural resources of eastern Congo-Kinshasa complicate the matter further. Around 100 different armed groups are reported to be fighting for control over the valuable minerals.
In the province of North Kivu, there are deposits of gold, diamonds, coltan, and cobalt. Much of these resources are essential components for the Western world's rush for, among other things, mobile phones and electric cars. The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of trying to get its hands on the deposits.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee due to the recent clashes, many of them to Rwanda. The UN warns of an escalating humanitarian crisis, with severe food shortages, looted aid, overcrowded hospitals, and the risk of disease outbreaks.
The vast Congo-Kinshasa in Central Africa got its borders during colonial times – without regard for the inhabitants and the traditional kingdoms that were then forced together.
The country is extremely rich in natural resources, but despite this, poverty has been widespread both during colonial times and after independence from Belgium in 1960.
In 1998, war broke out after large numbers of refugees flooded into the country from Rwanda. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives, and the civilian population was subjected to horrific abuses.
The war formally ended in 2003, but the struggle for control over the country's vast natural resources has continued and led to new outbreaks of violence at regular intervals, primarily in the eastern parts of the country.
Source: UI/Landguiden
