Rwanda-Backed Rebels Seize 2nd City in Democratic Republic of Congo

People walk past Place De L'Independence square in Bukavu, eastern Congo, on Feb. 15, 2025. Janvier Barhahiga/AP

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took control on Feb. 16 of Bukavu, the second-biggest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Government forces withdrew from Bukavu and there appeared to be little or no fighting for the capital of South Kivu Province.

Dozens of residents were seen welcoming the rebels to downtown Bukavu on the morning of Feb. 16, but most of the city was deserted, with people choosing to stay indoors.

Late last month, the rebels seized the region’s biggest city, Goma, more than 60 miles north of Bukavu.

M23—who get their name from the date, March 23, 2009, on which a previous Tutsi-led rebel group signed a peace agreement with the DR Congo government—are the most powerful of about 100 armed groups vying for control of the east of the vast country, which has huge mineral wealth.

The United Nations claims that 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda are supporting M23, something Rwandan President Paul Kagame has denied.

But Kagame insists he will not allow Hutu militants in the eastern DRC to kill Congolese Tutsis or attack Rwanda 30 years after the 1994 genocide, when almost a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred.

Kagame told France’s Jeune Afrique magazine this week: “We have faced existential threats for years. We had the worst tragedy in ‘94. You really come to me and start threatening ... sanctions because I am defending myself? And you think I have any iota of fear for that?”

An African Union summit at the weekend failed to bring any solution to the conflict in the DRC.

‘No Military Solution’

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told the summit on Feb. 15 that there was “no military solution” and added, “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC must be respected.”

But the government in Kinshasa, supported by South Africa, has been unable to prevent its army from losing ground to the M23 rebels, who are supported by Rwanda.

On Feb. 15, the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes M23, said it was committed to “defending the people of Bukavu.”

In a statement, its spokesman, Lawrence Kanyukya, said, “We call on the population to remain in control of their city and not give in to panic.”

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi held a security meeting in Kinshasa on Feb. 15. His office posted on social media platform X, “It emerged from this meeting that the town of Bukavu (South Kivu), briefly invaded by M23 terrorists, is controlled by the Congolese army and the valiant wazalendo.”

The Wazalendo are a rebel coalition opposed to M23.

His office also posted on X that Tshisekedi had participated in the Munich Secretary Conference on Feb. 14 and “received the support of many member countries of the European Union which clearly condemned the criminal actions of Rwanda in the DRC and are working on the establishment of appropriate sanctions against the regime of Kigali.”

Bukavu is close to the border with Burundi, which has supported Kinshasa diplomatically.

On Feb. 16, Burundi’s president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, posted on X, “After the talks I had with the neighboring countries of Rwanda, I told them to stop the invasion of Rwanda in Burundi.”

Neighboring Uganda is also involved in the conflict, and the chief of its defense forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, in a post on X on Feb. 15, threatened to attack the town of Bunia, unless “all forces” there surrendered their arms within 24 hours.

On the morning of Feb. 17, Kainerugaba, whose father, Yoweri Museveni, is Uganda’s president, wrote on X: “As for M23. I think it is very, very dangerous for anybody to fight those brothers of ours. They are NOT terrorists! They are fighting for the rights of Tutsi in DRC.”

The conflict is threatening to erupt into a wider war, as it did between April 2012 and November 2013, when South African and Tanzanian troops supported the Kinshasa government against M23, who were backed by Rwanda and Uganda.

Rwanda’s Sporting Sponsorships

Amid the conflict, the DRC has been trying to pressure various sports clubs and associations into dropping sponsorship deals with Rwanda.

The Kinshasa government has appealed to the organizers of Formula One to drop plans for a grand prix in Rwanda and has also urged European soccer clubs Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain to cancel sponsorship deals with Rwanda.

Tshisekedi’s government has also asked the NBA to end sponsorship deals Rwandan entities have with its Basketball Africa League.

An NBA spokesperson told Reuters, “We will continue to follow U.S. government guidance everywhere we operate.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.