The M23 rebels supported by Rwandans entered Bukavu, the second largest city in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, entering the office of the regional governor.
Some people bordered the streets to applaud and encourage the fighters while they were walking and went to the city center without resistance. It is the second city after Goma to fall into rebels in the region rich in minerals in recent weeks.
The Congolese government has recognized its fall and urged residents to stay at home “to avoid being targeted by occupation forces”.
The UN and European countries have warned that the last offensive, which saw hundreds of thousands of forced people from home, could trigger a wider regional war.
A resident of Bukavu, who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns for her security, told BBC on Sunday that most people were still afraid to leave their homes.
“Since yesterday, children and young people have taken up arms. They shoot everywhere in all directions, they loot,” she said.
“This morning, the M23 entered and they were acclaimed by people, very happy to see them. We do not know if it is because they are afraid or because they have noticed that there had no authorities in the city.
“The place where I saw the crackling [gunfire] can still be heard. “”
Friday, the M23 captured the main airport of Bukavu, which is approximately 30 km (18 miles) north of the city – then began to advance slowly to the city, which is the capital of the province of South -Kivou .
Provincial governor, Jean-Jacques Purusi Sadiki, confirmed to the reuters news agency that the combatants were in the city center of Bukavu on Sunday morning, adding that the Congolese troops had withdrew to avoid urban fights.
This left a security vacuum cleaner in the city on Saturday with chaotic scenes playing, including a prison break from the central prison.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said that a warehouse with almost 7,000 tonnes of food had been looted.
The city of approximately two million people at the southern tip of Lake Kivu Froncie Rwanda and is an important transit point for local mineral trade.
Its fall represents an unprecedented expansion of territory for the M23 since their last insurrection began at the end of 2021 – and is a blow for the government of President Félix Tshisekedi.
Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said Rwanda violated Dr Congo’s territorial integrity with expansionist ambitions and human rights violations.
The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of sowing chaos in the region – as well as troops on the ground – so that it can benefit from its natural resources, which Kigali denies.
President Tshisekedi wants his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to face sanctions on the last troubles.
But President Kagame has rejected such threats – and has repeatedly stressed that the main priority of Rwanda is his security.
He has long been angry with what he considers the failure of the Congolese authorities to deal with the Rebel FLDR Congo group, which he considers a danger to Rwanda.
The group is made up of certain members of the Hutu ethnic militia accused of participation in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda when more than 100 days around 800,000 people, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic group, were killed.
M23 troops directed by Tusti gathered at the place of independence in the center of Bukavu on Sunday, where one of his commanders, Bernard Byamungu, was filmed by discussing with the inhabitants and answering their questions in Swahili.
He urged government forces “hiding in houses” to surrender – and accused the soldiers of withdrawal from the propagation of terror by arming young locals who had unleashed.
The African Union (AU) – which held a summit of heads of state in Ethiopia this weekend – again urged M23 to disarm.
“We are all very, very concerned about an open regional war,” said Reuters, the AU peace and security commissioner, Bankole Adeo.
