In the war-torn, mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo, rebels belonging to an armed group known as the M23 have launched a devastating offensive against the government of President Joseph Kabila, capturing the main provincial capital of Goma in the country’s east, according to reports. Though denied by the Rwandan government, many believe the M23 is armed and backed by Rwanda, as regional governments jostle for influence and control over a part of the world blessed with teeming natural wealth but afflicted by decades of war and human-rights abuses.
Congo’s Crisis: Rebels Launch Offensive in Country’s East
TONY KARUMBA / AFP / Getty Images
Democratic Republic of Congo government soldiers ride on the back of a truck, on Nov. 25, 2012 in Minova, 70 kilometres south of Goma. Congolese rebels on Sunday rejected demands by regional governments to pull out of the eastern city of Goma to allow for peace talks aimed at preventing a wider conflict and halting a spiralling humanitarian catastrophe. President Joseph Kabila returned to Kinshasa from Kampala "without meeting anyone from the rebellion" on Sunday despite suggestions of further talks in the Ugandan capital, where he took part in the regional summit. Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congo Republic counterpart Denis Sassou-Nguesso called Sunday on both the DR Congo government and rebels threatening to overthrow it to implement regional leaders' call to stop fighting and make peace.
