Rwandan-backed rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) say they have seized a second airport in the region.
After a days-long advance, M23 rebels said they had seized Kavumu airport, which serves the South Kivu province and the region’s second biggest city Bukavu.
In a statement on social media, a spokesperson for the group said rebels were in control of the airport – a key strategic location for the Congolese army – and surrounding areas.
Reports of the takeover could not be immediately verified, but a civil society source in the region told the Reuters news agency: “The city of Bukavu can no longer hold.”
Locals also told the AP news agency on Friday morning that rebel forces were just a few miles away from the airport.
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One of more than 100 armed groups active in the mineral-rich eastern regions of the country, the M23 rebels have been pushing south since they seized Goma, the largest city in the east of the DRC, in January.
M23, or the March 23 Movement, has previously expressed a desire to march to DRC’s capital Kinshasa.
After declaring a ceasefire earlier in February, the rebel group’s spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said: “It must be made clear that we have no intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas.”
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighbouring countries
The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from Rwanda, according to UN experts, far more than in 2012 when they first briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure.
Rwanda’s government has framed the conflict as the defence of ethnic Tutsis in eastern DRC from ethnic Hutu forces linked to the genocide in Rwanda three decades ago.
Around 800,000 Tutsis, moderate Hutus and others were killed in the genocide.
The UN’s refugee agency also said on Friday that the conflict in the DRC has displaced around 350,000 people since January. Earlier this month, it said almost 3,000 people had been killed.
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It comes as DRC President Felix Tshisekedi seeks international support to end the conflict, having flown to Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
A government source added he will also fly to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to attend the African Union summit on Saturday.
