February 17 — Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have entered Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, seizing the regional governor’s office.
Rebel commander Bernard Byamungu told Journalists that the M23 has had the city under its control since Sunday morning.
Bukavu’s apparent capture deals a further blow to Kinshasa’s authority in the east of the country.
Some people lined the streets to clap and cheer the fighters as they marched and drove into the city centre without resistance. It is the second city after Goma to fall to the rebels in the mineral-rich region in the past few weeks.
The Congolese government has acknowledged its fall and urged residents to stay at home “to avoid being targeted by the occupying forces”.
The provincial governor, Jean-Jacques Purusi Sadiki, confirmed to Journalists that the fighters were in Bukavu city centre by Sunday morning, adding that Congolese troops had withdrawn to avoid urban fighting.
This left a security vacuum in the city on Saturday with chaotic scenes playing out, including a reported prison break from the central prison.
Smoke billows from Bukavu Central Prison buildings, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 16, 2025.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said a warehouse with nearly 7,000 tonnes of food was looted.
The UN and European countries have warned that the latest offensive, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes, could spark a wider regional war.
The city of around two million people on the southern tip of Lake Kivu borders Rwanda and is an important transit point for the local mineral trade.
The M23’s recent gains in North and South Kivu provinces mean it has captured more territory than all other rebellions since the end of two major wars that ran from 1996 to 2003. These advances have also handed them control of some of the region’s valuable mineral deposits.
Congo is the world’s top producer of cobalt, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile phones. It is also the third largest global copper producer and home to significant coltan, lithium, tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold deposits.
