Congo president vows ‘resistance’ over rebel seizure of key city

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, speaking publicly for the first time since Rwandan-backed rebels seized the eastern city of Goma, said his government was preparing a response and warned of “unpredictable consequences” for the region.

Tshisekedi called for “resilience and, above all, resistance” from Congolese as M23 rebels increased their hold over Goma and expanded their campaign into mineral-rich South Kivu province on Wednesday.

“The presence of thousands of Rwandan troops on our soil, their political, logistical and military support for their M23 puppets, as well as their involvement in illegal exploitation of our minerals, is driving us straight into to an escalation with unpredictable consequences and putting in danger” the entire region, the president said on national television.

Tshisekedi’s address occurred after he met in Angola with that country’s president, President Joao Lourenco, who’s been mediating between Congo and Rwanda. Lourenco in a statement Wednesday called on M23 to withdraw from Goma and for the Rwandan army to leave Congo.

“A vigorous and coordinated reaction against these terrorists and their patrons is underway,” Tshisekedi said. “We privilege the path of dialog but with clarity and remaining firmly resolved to defend our territory and our sovereignty by any means necessary.”

Rwanda denies backing M23 or having troops in Congo. Rwandan President Paul Kagame blamed the conflict on Tshisekedi’s inability to control his territory and protect his citizens.

The M23 say they’re defending the rights of Tutsis and other speakers of the Rwandan language in Congo and fighting against a rebel group with links to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, who killed more than 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis.

The rebels invaded Goma on Monday, overpowering Congo’s army, which was backed by United Nations peacekeepers, mercenaries, allied militias and a force from the Southern African Development Community.

At least 13 South African soldiers were killed in the fighting as part of the UN and SADC forces. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he had warned Kagame that further clashes could amount to a declaration of war.

Kagame reacted furiously in a response on X Wednesday.

“If South Africa wants to contribute to peaceful solutions, that is well and good, but South Africa is in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator,” Kagame wrote. “And if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day.”

Joshua Walker, program director for the Congo Research Group at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, said Tshisekedi “does not appear to have the means — military or political — to fend off” M23.

“At the same time,” Walker added, “rhetoric from Rwandan President Kagame — towards South Africa as well as DRC — has become blunt and threatening. The Angola peace process appears to be definitively over, with nothing to replace it for the moment and we are perilously close to another regional conflict.”

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