Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday claimed control of the city of Goma and its airport, in the mineral-rich east, as President Joseph Kabila urged people to defend the nation’s sovereignty.
M23 rebel troops marched silently in single file into the deserted city meeting with little resistance. In a radio broadcast, rebel spokesman Vianney Kazarama appealed to the population to stay calm and ordered all police and government soldiers to surrender this morning at Goma’s football stadium.
The UN has around 1,500 “quick reaction” peacekeepers in Goma, part of some 6,700 troops in North Kivu province, backing government forces against the rebels. They were yesterday at their base, according to AFP.
Gunfire was heard from the west of Goma and from another area leading to a key road, an AFP reporter on the scene said.
Two vehicles full of rebels drove around the city centre to applause from locals while the body of a DR Congo government soldier could be seen at a major crossroad.
Witnesses also reported that rebel chief Sultani Makenga had arrived in the city.
Most locals stayed inside yesterday with only a few venturing outside. “What country are we in?” one bewildered woman, who gave her name as Suzanne Bita, told AFP, adding: “The people who have just arrived come from Rwanda.”
Earlier, the rebel spokesman said the group was in control of Goma and the airport and was “pursuing the enemy” who he said were fleeing.
Kabila, in an address to the nation, spoke of a “war” situation and urged the population to fight the rebels. Kinshasa has repeatedly accused neighbour Rwanda of backing the group, made up of soldiers who mutinied in April.
“DR Congo is today confronted with a difficult situation,” Kabila said on national television.
“When a war is imposed, one has an obligation to resist. I ask that the entire population defend our sovereignty.”
The rebels are mainly Tutsis, the minority ethnic group of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the target of the 1994 genocide in that country that claimed at least 800,000 lives.
Kabila was yesterday in Kampala for talks on the crisis. As he left for the Ugandan, he said he would be “presenting proof against the countries mentioned”.