Congo PM demands 'withdrawal of Rwandan troops' after M23 reach Bukavu suburbs

Chaotic scenes unfolded in the eastern Congo city of Bukavu on Saturday after M23 rebels reached its outskirts, while Congo's prime minister declined to comment on a threat by Uganda's army chief that raised fears of a spiral into a wider regional war.

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have been pushing south towards Bukavu, the second-largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, since they seized Goma, the largest city, at the end of last month. They reached Bukavu's northern suburb Bagira on Friday evening, eyewitnesses said, but did not enter the city centre.

"We are asking for one thing and cannot accept anything else: the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese territory," Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa told Reuters on Saturday.

"We are an independent country and we must protect the integrity of our territory."

Earlier, the chief of Uganda's defence forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said in a post on X that he would attack the town of Bunia in neighbouring eastern Congo unless "all forces" there surrendered their arms within 24 hours. The threat from Kainerugaba, whose father is President Yoweri Museveni, raised fears the region could slip back into a broader war reminiscent of conflicts in the 1990s and 2000s that killed millions.

Uganda's military has since 2021 supported the Congolese army in its fight against Islamist militants in the east, and deployed another 1,000 soldiers there in late January and early February. But UN experts say Uganda has also backed the ethnic Tutsi-led M23.

Suminwa declined to comment on Kainerugaba's post.

On Saturday, the World Food Programme's depot in Bukavu, which housed 6,800 metric tons of food, was being looted, a spokesperson told Reuters, adding the agency's activities there had been suspended for weeks due to the deteriorating security situation.

Social media videos verified by Reuters showed large crowds carrying white sacks in an area of Bukavu close to the warehouse.

The city's main prison had also been emptied as of Saturday, according to a provincial official and a Congolese army source in Bukavu, noting that soldiers had freed some of the prisoners while others escaped.

Corneille Nangaa, leader of a rebel alliance that includes the M23, said on Friday evening that the rebels had entered Bukavu and would continue their operation in the city on Saturday.

An M23 source, two Congolese army officers and multiple Bukavu residents, however, said on Saturday that the rebels had not yet entered the city centre.

One of the army officers said soldiers were being evacuated in order to avoid "carnage" like in Goma. About 3,000 people were killed in the days preceding the capture of that city, according to the United Nations.

Congolese soldiers set fire to a weapons depot at their army base in Bukavu on Saturday morning, according to five residents and a military source.

The capture of Bukavu, a city of about 2 million according to the mayor, would represent an unprecedented expansion of territory under the M23's control since the latest insurgency started in 2022, and deal a further blow to Kinshasa's authority in Congo's eastern borderlands, which are rich in minerals.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged dialogue between the warring parties in a speech at an African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa on Saturday.

"In DRC as more cities fall, the risk of regional war rises. It is time to silence the gun, it is time for diplomacy and dialogue," he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday.

France and Belgium both condemned the M23 offensive on Bukavu, their foreign affairs ministries said in statements on X on Saturday.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has repeatedly refused to talk directly to the M23 and cancelled his appearance at the AU summit, sending his prime minister to represent Congo.

Tshisekedi returned to Kinshasa on Saturday morning, according to the presidency, after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.

Kigali has denied backing M23.