Members of the M23 armed group ride in a pickup truck during a patrol in Goma on January 29, 2025. Rwanda-backed fighters controlled almost all of the DR Congo city of Goma on January 29, 2025 where residents were re-emerging after days of deadly fighting and Angola urged leaders of both countries to urgently hold peace talks. After intense fighting that saw the M23 armed group and Rwandan troops seize the city's airport and key sites, calm returned to the mineral trading hub. (Photo by AFP)

DR Congo president says army mounting ‘vigorous’ response to M23 advance

by · The Sun News · Join

KINSHASA: Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi said Wednesday his military was undertaking a “vigorous” response as Rwanda-backed fighters captured new territory in the east, and warned of possible regional “escalation”.

The M23 fighters were advancing on a second front Wednesday, local sources told AFP, seizing two districts in South Kivu after mostly routing the Congolese army from North Kivu’s provincial capital.

“A vigorous and coordinated response against these terrorists and their sponsors is underway,“ Tshisekedi said in an address to the nation, after lamenting the “unprecedented worsening of the security situation”.

He also condemned the “inaction” of the international community in the face of intensifying conflict in DRC’s east.

“Your silence and inaction... are an affront” to the DRC, he said in the televised address, adding that the advance of Rwanda-backed fighters could lead “straight to an escalation” in the region.

The weeks-long march of the M23 armed group has prompted calls for crisis talks, as well as rising international criticism and warnings of a looming humanitarian crisis.