The M23 rebel group claims to have seized control of Goma, a major city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Residents have shared footage showing M23 fighters patrolling the city’s main streets following a swift offensive against the Congolese army on Sunday. This advance prompted tens of thousands of people to flee neighboring towns.
Local media report that after hours of intense gunfire and explosions in Goma—home to over a million residents—the streets are now calm.
The developments follow accusations by DR Congo’s foreign minister that Rwanda has effectively declared war by deploying its troops to support the M23 rebels. Rwanda, however, alleges that Kinshasa is backing militias seeking to overthrow its government.
Kenya has urged a ceasefire and announced an emergency regional summit in the coming days, with the presidents of both DR Congo and Rwanda expected to attend. Kenyan President William Ruto, chair of the East African Community, emphasized the importance of regional leaders in facilitating a peaceful resolution.
Since 2021, the M23 group has captured significant portions of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo, with its recent advances on Goma escalating the conflict. The United Nations refugee agency reports that over 400,000 people have been displaced in North and South Kivu provinces near the Rwandan border since early 2025.
One displaced resident, Alice Feza, expressed her despair after fleeing multiple locations, including Kiwanja, Rutshuru, Kibumba, and now Goma.
“People are fleeing everywhere, and we don’t know where to go anymore, because we started fleeing a long time ago,” Ms Feza said, adding: “The war catches us here among the host families, now we have nowhere to go.”
Key roads surrounding Goma are blocked and the city’s airport can no longer be used for evacuation and humanitarian efforts, the UN has said.
UN Secretary General António Guterres has called on Rwanda to withdraw its forces from the DR Congo’s territory and on the M23 rebel group to stop its advance.
Guterres, in a statement through his spokesman, called on Rwanda to “cease support to the M23 and withdraw from DRC territory”. He also called on the M23 to “immediately cease all hostile actions and withdraw from occupied areas”.
This comes after 13 soldiers serving with peacekeeping forces were killed in clashes with the rebels.
The UK has called for an end to attacks on peacekeepers, while France’s UN representative, Nicolas de Rivière, reiterated Guterres’ call for Rwanda to withdraw its troops from the DR Congo.
Both DR Congo and the UN say the M23 group is backed by Rwanda.
Rwanda has not denied this, but the country’s leaders put the blame on the DR Congo for the current conflict.
Speaking at the Security Council meeting, Rwanda’s UN representative Ernest Rwamucyo said he regretted that the international community choose to condemn the M23 group rather than the Congolese army, which, he said, had violated a ceasefire.
On Saturday, the UN said it would be pulling all of its non-essential staff out of Goma. Essential operations are ongoing in the DR Congo.
The M23 formed as an offshoot of another rebel group in 2012, ostensibly to protect the Tutsi population in the east of DR Congo, which had long complained of persecution and discrimination.
Rwanda has previously said the Congolese authorities were working with some of those responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide against ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
However, Rwanda’s critics accuse it of using the M23 to loot minerals such as gold, cobalt and tantalum in eastern DR Congo.