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Central Africa

DRC President Gets Support from Goma Residents for Fighting Back

January 31, 2025

(3 Minutes Read)

Tshisekedi’s comments came after the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized the key eastern city of Goma. Some buildings in the capital still bear the marks of vandalism carried out earlier this week by demonstrators.

Some residents in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, welcomed an address by President Félix Tshisekedi, saying they wanted action to end the war in eastern Congo.The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo called for a massive military mobilisation to resist the rebellion in a televised speech broadcast late on Wednesday.

They were protesting against the perceived inaction of the international community to the advance of the M23 and their Rwandan allies. The rebels on Thursday said they planned to continue their offensive all the way to Kinshasa.

Meanwhile, in the east of the country, the rebel fighters moved beyond Goma in an apparent attempt to expand their control in the conflict-battered region.

The regional East African Community has called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and “strongly urged” the government to hold talks with the rebels. Tshisekedi was conspicuously absent from the virtual summit attended by Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

United Nations experts say the M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda. Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, at a briefing in Goma on Thursday, said they plan to take their offensive to the capital, Kinshasa.