Rwandan troops have escalated their deployment along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, raising alarm about an impending attack on the regional capital, Goma. According to intelligence sources, RDF soldiers have been seen crossing into eastern DRC in the past days to reinforce the M23 militia’s fast push. The M23, supported by Rwanda, has made considerable strides in the region, placing Goma under severe pressure.
The RDF’s amassing, just across the border from Goma in the town of Gisenyi in Rwanda, includes high-ranking military officers, giving rise to the fear that an attack will soon happen. Fierce fighting between the M23 and the Congolese army intensified near Goma, taking the lives of three South African peacekeepers. Accusers say these battle lines are frighteningly close to the outskirts of the city where thousands of displaced people, over one million, are being kept in refugee camps.
The timing of the offensive seems strategic, given the United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Monday to consider the crisis situation. It fears that Rwanda aims to take Goma before it can garner adequate international pressure; this was in 2012 when M23 briefly took Goma.
Rwanda is said to be targeting further territorial conquests, and Bukavu, a city near the southern tip of Lake Kivu, is also on its radar. The M23 insurgency, which has been gaining in intensity in the mineral-rich east of DRC, recently took key towns along critical supply routes, further straining food and supply lines into Goma.
Rights groups are sounding alarm on the humanitarian situation in Goma, with increasing water and power shortages. The European Union called on Rwanda to withdraw support to M23 as critics view the Western powers to be lenient on Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
