M23 pushing advance toward 'strategic zones' in DR Congo, warns UN

UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES — The M23 armed group is advancing on strategic zones in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after taking two key cities, the United Nations warned on Wednesday, underscoring the threat of a regional conflict.

Recent weeks have seen the rapid progression of the Rwanda-backed M23, which has seized vast tracts of the eastern DRC, including the cities of Goma and Bukavu on Lake Kivu.

Bukavu on the southern side fell on Sunday, weeks after fighters captured the city of Goma in the north, giving them total control of the lake that sits in between the cities.

"If our information is correct, (the M23) continues to advance towards other strategic areas in North and South Kivu," the UN Secretary-General's special envoy for the Great Lakes region, Huang Xia, told the Security Council.

He said that while the "deep intentions of the M23 and their support" remains unknown, "the risk of a regional conflagration is more real than ever," adding that such a conflict would have "catastrophic" consequences.

"History is repeating itself," he warned, noting that "as dramatic as the situation seems to us today, it can still get worse."

The fighting in recent weeks has raised fears of a repeat of the Second Congo War, from 1998 to 2003, which drew in multiple African countries and resulted in millions of deaths from violence, disease and starvation.

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC [MONUSCO], Bintou Keita, also expressed concern about the advance of the M23, now "at the junction of the three borders between the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi."

She denounced the "severe restrictions" on MONUSCO's movements imposed by the M23, which "controls all roads entering or leaving the areas under its control."

She underscored that "the human rights situation in North and South Kivu has deteriorated considerably."

Keita cited enforced recruitment by armed groups, looting, displacement and "searches of hospitals and houses by the M23 in search of soldiers and civilians perceived as opposed to the group."

 'All-out war'

The DRC foreign minister, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, again accused Rwanda of causing carnage and seeking to oust her government by force, while denouncing the UN for failing to intercede.

"This council must act. It can no longer remain a silent witness to an unfolding tragedy nor hide behind a declaration of intent," the minister said.

The DRC is calling for sanctions against Rwandan military and political leaders, an embargo on Rwandan exports of natural resources and a ban on Rwandan forces taking part in UN peacekeeping operations.

The acting US ambassador, Dorothy Shea, backed the last demand at least in part, saying the UN "should reevaluate Rwanda's ability to participate constructively in UN peacekeeping."

She added: "It is beyond time for this Council, the UN, and international community to marshal a strong and unambiguous response to M23 and Rwandan actions which undermine prospects for peace and bring the region closer to the brink of an all-out war."