Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has insisted that his troops are mounting a “vigorous” response to Rwanda-backed fighters advancing in the country’s perennially troubled east, while criticising the international community’s “silence and inaction.”
The weeks-long offensive by the M23 armed group, which has seized vast swathes of eastern DRC, including most of the key city of Goma, has prompted calls for crisis talks and warnings of a looming humanitarian disaster.
DRC’s mineral-rich east has been plagued by decades of conflict involving numerous armed groups, partly linked to the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
In his first remarks since the latest crisis erupted, Tshisekedi said late on Wednesday that a “vigorous and coordinated response against these terrorists and their sponsors is underway.”
The “silence and inaction” of the international community were an “affront” amid an “unprecedented worsening of the security situation,” he said in a televised address.
He warned that the advance of Rwanda-backed fighters could lead “straight to an escalation” in the broader Great Lakes region.
This followed reports from local sources to newsmen that Kigali-backed fighters had seized two districts in South Kivu.
The Congolese army has yet to issue a statement on M23’s latest advances.
