Since capturing the city early this week, the rebels also have expanded their presence in surrounding areas and announced their intentions to march on the capital, Kinshasa, nearly 1,000 miles (around 1,600 kilometers) away.
More than 2 million of Goma's civilian residents, including one million already displaced by the violence, are at risk of "catastrophic" humanitarian consequences, aid groups said.
The U.N. has expressed concerns over executions carried out by the rebels, as well as reports of sexual violence. Hospitals are saturated, with over 2,000 wounded people, the World Health Organization said.
Here is what to know about the conflict:
Who are the rebels and what do they want?
The M23 group is one of about 100 armed factions vying for a foothold in eastern Congo, where a decades-long conflict has raged. The group, made up primarily of ethnic Tutsis who failed to integrate into the Congolese army, led a failed insurgency against the Congolese government in 2012. It was then dormant for a decade, until its resurgence in 2022.
Between 1996 and 2003, the region was at the heart of a protracted conflict dubbed “Africa’s world war,” as armed groups fought over access to metals and rare earth minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium and gold. Up to 6 million people died.
But M23 says their fight had nothing to do with natural resources.
“Our objective is Congo, we are fighting for Congo. We are not fighting for minerals, we are not fighting for anything (else)," Corneille Nangaa, one of the political leaders of M23, told The Associated Press. “From a failed state to a modern state whereby we want to make Congo as a business land.”
The conflict can be traced to the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda, where Hutu militias killed between 500,000 and 1 million ethnic Tutsi, as well as moderate Hutus and Twa, Indigenous people.
When Tutsi-led forces fought back, nearly 2 million Hutus crossed into Congo, fearing reprisals. Tensions between Hutus and Tutsis have repeatedly flared in Congo since then.
Rwandan authorities have accused the Hutus who fled of participating in the genocide and alleged that elements of the Congolese army protected them. They have argued that the militias formed by a small fraction of the Hutus are a threat to Rwanda’s Tutsi population.
M23 claims to defend Tutsi and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination. Critics say it’s a pretext for Rwanda to obtain economic and political influence over eastern Congo.
Why is control of eastern Congo so important?
As the world relies more than ever on Congo’s metals and rare earth minerals to produce electronics, the stakes have risen. Neighboring Rwanda and Uganda have financial interests in Congolese mines, as well as China and the United States.
Most of Congo’s mineral resources, estimated to be worth $24 trillion, remain untapped, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce last year, which called the country the world’s leading producer of cobalt, key to making batteries.
Little of the region’s wealth has trickled down to Congolese citizens, with 60% out of its 100 million residents living below the poverty line. Instead, fighting over natural resources has destabilized the country.
What’s the role of neighboring Rwanda?
Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing the M23, which had hundreds of members in 2021. Now, according to the United Nations, the group has around 6,500 fighters.
While Rwanda denies that claim, it acknowledged last year that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo, allegedly to safeguard its security. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
How is the international community reacting?
In 2012, the rebels seized Goma and controlled it for about a week but surrendered the city after mounting international pressure on Rwanda — including suspension of aid from the United States and Britain.
When Rwanda-backed rebels seized control of Goma this week, it prompted a flurry of declarations condemning Rwanda from the U.N. and western nations, including the United States, France and the U.K.
Yet, the international community has stopped short of putting financial pressure on Kigali to withdraw its support for the rebels as happened when they took Goma in 2012.
The contrast has to do with t he country's evolving stature both in Africa and the West, where officials have long admired fourth-term President Paul Kagame for his role in uplifting Rwanda in the aftermath of genocide, analysts and diplomats said. They point to Rwanda's shrewd branding, efforts to make itself more indispensable militarily and economically and divided attention spans of countries preoccupied with wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
“So far there has been significantly less international pressure than there was in 2012 for various reasons, including the new administration in the White House, other ongoing international crises and Rwanda’s role in continental peacekeeping and security operations,” said Ben Shepherd, a fellow Chatham House’s Africa Program.
What is the situation for civilians?
There are 4 million displaced people in eastern Congo, and the rebels’ escalated offensive sent additional hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes and displacement camps in recent weeks.
About 300,000 people sheltering in camps on Goma’s outskirts fled into the city as front lines moved last weekend, only to find themselves trapped by the violence once again as rebels entered the city, according to the U.N.
Since the start of the crisis, bombs have struck at least two sites for internally displaced people, causing civilian casualties. The U.N. also said it has documented cases of conflict-related sexual violence by the army and allied armed groups, as well as by male inmates during a prison break in Goma.
The airport closed, roads were blocked, and aid groups said they were unable to provide lifesaving support to those in need. Medical facilities are at double their capacity. The main hospital in Goma treating the wounded, run by the International Committee of the Red Cross, is stretched beyond its limits, with tents set up in its courtyard to accommodate civilians wounded by bullets and heavy artillery.
As much of Goma remained without water and electricity supplies, residents trekked for hours to fetch water from Lake Kivu. M23 has tried to assert their control over the city, saying on Thursday that they were working to restore electricity and water supplies.
Some civilians, desperate to flee the fighting, crossed into Rwanda to seek safety. More than 1,000 Congolese have been registered since Monday, according to Rwandan authorities.
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Associated Press writers Justin Kabumba in Goma, Congo; Christina Malkia in Kinshasa, Congo; Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda; Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda; and Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed to this report.
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