Looting reported as rebels advance on DR Congo city

The chaotic scenes in Bukavo are revealed in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the M23 rebel group continues its attack in the region.

On Saturday, there were reports of intermittent shooting and widespread looting in the city, including in the global food program depot, with residents in their homes.

This is followed by conflicting reports on whether the Rwanda -backed rebels entered the main city of Bocafo, after progressing in the region. On Friday, M23 fighters seized Kavomo Airport, north of Boukavo.

The United Nations and the European Union expressed its warning about the worsening conflict.

The threat of the commander of the army in Uganda to attack the town of the Congolese has sparked fears that the conflict could be drawn into a broader regional war.

UN Secretary -General Antonio Guterres told the African Union summit on Saturday that a regional escalation should be avoided at any cost and there was no “military solution.”

“Sovereignty and regional integrity must be respected from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

The European Union said it was “urgent”, given all the options that follow the news from Bukavo.

She warned, “The continuous violation of the safety of the Democratic Republic of the Congo will not be answered.”

The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of sowing chaos in the region in order to benefit from its natural resources – a claim that Rwanda denied.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced in recent weeks as a result of the progress of the rebels.

On Saturday, the streets of Bukavo were deserted when the residents hid in their homes.

One of the women in the city told the BBC to avoid going out with the shooting, looting the youth and destroying the stores.

“I don’t have enough food for three days. As a woman, it is difficult for me to go out because I may be raped [by the looters or the armed groups]. We feel abandoned by the authorities. “

A Reuters spokesman told Reuters news agency that the looting included the World Food Program warehouse, which included 6800 metric tons of food.

Claude Calinga said that the theft of supplies would deepen the difficulties faced by the needy. The agency had already suspended its activities for weeks due to the deterioration of the security situation.

There were conflicting reports on whether the M23 fighters had entered Bukavo, the group claims, and to what extent.

Two of the Bajira suburb in the north of Boukavo said they saw the rebels in the streets and are not a sign of fighting.

However, the source of M23, two members of the Congolese army and the scale of many Bukavo residents, told Reuters that the rebels had not yet entered the city center.

The seizure of Bukavo, a city that is estimated to have a population of more than a million people, will represent an unprecedented expansion of land under M23’s control since the last rebellion began in 2022.

BUKAVU, which borders Rwanda, is located on the southern end of Lake Kivu and is an important transit point for local mineral trade.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the head of the defense forces in Uganda, General Muhuzi Kenerugaba, said in a position on X that he would attack the town of Bonia, also in the eastern Democratic Republic From the wider conflict.

Kenerugaba’s threat, his father, the president of Uganda, adds to the concerns that the region risks a broader war that reminds us of conflicts in the nineties and the Millions that killed millions.

Since 2021, the Uganda army has supported the Congolese army in its battle against Islamic militants in the East, but UN experts say Uganda also supported the M23 group.