By Chinasaokwu Helen Okoro
Gunfire and explosions sent crowds fleeing in panic as a mass rally led by rebel leader Corneille Nangaa descended into chaos in the eastern city of Bukavu on Thursday.
Residents reported seeing multiple casualties as people ran through the streets, some bleeding and carrying limp bodies.
Video footage from the scene showed the aftermath of the violence, though the exact number of casualties remains unclear.
Speaking to Reuters by phone, Nangaa accused Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi of ordering the attack but provided no evidence to support his claim.
The government has yet to issue a statement on the incident.Nangaa himself was unharmed, and other senior members of the M23 rebel group, which has been battling the Congolese army and capturing territory in the east since early 2024, were also reported safe.
In his speech before the violence broke out, Nangaa had assured a crowd of thousands that M23 was in Bukavu to restore security.
“There will be special units and patrols that will take place in all the communes,” he declared. M23 has controlled the city since February 16 and has attempted to assert its authority by reopening schools and ports.
The gunfire erupted at the end of the rally, with a resident describing a scene of indiscriminate shooting. “There was shooting in all directions. We don’t know what happened. There are injured people, dead people—I don’t know,” the resident said.
M23’s latest offensive marks the most significant escalation in over a decade of eastern Congo’s long-running conflict, which is deeply rooted in the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the battle for control over Congo’s vast mineral wealth.
The conflict has drawn international concern, with Congo, the United Nations, and Western powers accusing Rwanda of backing M23—a charge Kigali denies.Rwanda, in turn, claims it is acting in self-defense against a Hutu militia allegedly fighting alongside Congolese forces.
As tensions rise, fears of a broader regional war continue to mount.
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