A number of individuals were killed and dozens hurt when explosions hit a huge rally led by M23 rebel forces in Bukavu, an eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) city that was taken over by the militants last week.
Social media videos captured panicked crowds running, but others highlighted bodies with blood on them on the ground and injured people being rushed away. Thousands of people had turned up at Independence Square, the city’s central spot in South Kivu province, for the event.
Among those who attended was Corneille Nangaa, head of the Congo River Alliance, a group whose membership includes M23. Witnesses said that while Nangaa and other rebel commanders were departing the stage, two explosions swept through the terrain. Nangaa afterward accused Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi of masterminding the attack, although he gave no proof. The government remains silent on the accusation.
Bukavu is one of two major cities in the mineral-rich eastern DRC captured this year by M23, after the group took Goma last month. The offensive represents the most serious confrontation in more than a decade of continuous strife in the area, fueled by the consequences of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle over control of Congo’s rich mineral wealth.
M23, that is supported by Rwanda, is one of more than 100 militias in the eastern DRC. The DRC government has accused Rwanda of sponsoring the uprising to loot resources in the country, an argument corroborated by UN analysts. Kigali, however, dismisses keeping troops in DRC while it insists that conflicts along its borders pose a security threat.
Continuing violence has deteriorated the humanitarian crisis, claiming thousands of lives and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Over 40,000 refugees, primarily children and women, have crossed to Burundi in one month alone.
