Congo Says It Will Recover Lost Territory As Rwanda-Backed Rebels Advance South

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Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi on Wednesday said its army will soon recover all lost territory aswandan-backed M23 rebels extended their advance to the South.

Meanwhile, the East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

President Felix Tshisekedi told the nation on Wednesday night that he would mount a military riposte and warned: “The presence of thousands of Rwandan soldiers on our soil … (is leading) to an escalation with unpredictable consequences.”

The eight countries of the East African Community held an emergency summit and called for an immediate ceasefire in eastern Congo and for Congo to negotiate with M23.

The United Nations Security Council similarly demanded a halt to the rebel offensive earlier this week.

Congo and Rwanda are both members of the East Africa bloc along with Kenya, Tanzania and other states. Tshisekedi did not attend the summit while Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame did.

M23 rebels captured Goma, a city of 2 million people and the capital of North Kivu province, on Monday.

Rwandan forces backed up M23 in Goma, according to Congo, the U.N., the U.S. and other Western powers. Rwanda has denied this.

The rebels advanced south on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to expand their area of control. They marched along the western side of Lake Kivu and neared Kavumu, where Bukavu’s airport is located.

This week’s events represent the gravest escalation of the decades-old conflict in eastern Congo since 2012.

The hostilities are rooted in the spillover of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide into Congo and the struggle for control of Congo’s lucrative minerals.

In Goma, a hub for displaced people, aid workers, U.N. peacekeepers and Congolese forces, the rebels were consolidating their hold on the city on Wednesday and patrolling the border with Rwanda.

A flurry of diplomatic activity, including the United States telling Rwanda it was “deeply troubled” by Goma’s fall and Germany cancelling aid talks with Rwanda, was having no apparent effect on the ground.