Congo’s M23 rebels say they have taken control of the key eastern city of Goma

Rwandan-backed rebels capture Goma, Congo, sparking fears of escalating conflict and humanitarian crisis, amid international calls for peace.

Rwandan-backed rebels captured the city of Goma in eastern Congo early Monday (January 27, 2025), according to a press release by the M23 rebel movement.

The city's capture came following a 48-hour deadline imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons.

In the statement, the rebels urged residents of Goma to remain calm. There was no immediate comment from Congo's government.

The rebels entered the outskirts of eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, on Sunday (January 26, 2025), causing what the United Nations called “mass panic” among its 2 million people and leading Congo’s government to call it a “declaration of war.”

With the airport shut down and roads blocked in the vast region’s humanitarian and security hub, “we are trapped,” the U.N.‘s special representative for Congo told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

The M23 rebels’ offensive at the heart of the mineral-rich region threatens to dramatically worsen one of Africa’s longest wars and create further misery for what is already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with millions of people displaced.

Congo, on late Saturday (January 25, 2025), broke off relations with Rwanda, which has denied backing the M23 despite evidence collected by U.N. experts and others. The surge of violence has killed at least 13 peacekeepers over the past week. And Congolese were again on the run.