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Fall of DRC’s Goma: Urgent Action Needed to Avert a Regional War | Crisis Group
On the morning of 27 January, Rwandan-backed March 23 (M23) rebels swept into Goma, capital of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, seizing control of the city of one million. The development marks a dramatic escalation in the long-running crisis. The fighting has uprooted over two million from their homes, exposing thousands around Goma to predation by various militias. Rwanda and the M23 now control practically all of North Kivu province and by force of arms have forged a new reality in the region. Worse could well be on the way. Rebels are pushing deeper into the neighbouring South Kivu province and menacing its capital Bukavu, suggesting they have ambitions beyond Goma or at least are seeking to ramp up the pressure on a weakened Kinshasa. Left unchecked, the fighting could spread throughout the Great Lakes region, recalling the horrors of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when millions died amid a multi-country war in the Congo.
