KINSHASA, Congo — A insurgent group with alleged hyperlinks to Rwanda this week seized Rubaya, a mining city in jap Congo recognized for producing a key mineral utilized in smartphones, the group mentioned Thursday in an announcement.
In an announcement shared with The Related Press, a spokesperson for the M23 insurgent group mentioned the city was “liberated.”
The Congolese military declined to touch upon the state of affairs.
The decadeslong battle in jap Congo has produced one of many world’s worst humanitarian crises, with over 100 armed teams preventing for management of the mineral-rich space close to the border with Rwanda. Many teams are accused of finishing up mass killings, rapes and different human rights violations. The violence has displaced about 7 million folks, many past the attain of support.
The city of Rubaya holds deposits of tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, a key element within the manufacturing of smartphones. It’s among the many minerals that was named earlier this month in a letter from Congo’s authorities questioning Apple concerning the tech firm’s information of “blood minerals” being smuggled in its provide chain.
“The autumn of Rubaya is in a method the embodiment of this systemic plundering,” Ernest Singoma, a civil society activist in Goma, instructed the AP on Thursday.
There’s been an upsurge in preventing in latest months between M23 rebels and Congo military forces, and it comes because the United Nations plans to withdraw peacekeepers from the area by the tip of the 12 months.
John Banyene, a civil society activist, instructed the AP that the rebels had been advancing in the direction of the city of Goma, which is jap Congo’s largest metropolis and the capital of North Kivu province.
“All the provision routes to town are blocked,” mentioned Banyene.“We’re simply getting by.”
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi alleges Rwanda is destabilizing Congo by backing the M23 rebels. U.N. specialists, together with the U.S. State Division, have additionally accused Rwanda of backing the rebels. Rwanda denies the claims.
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron known as on neighboring Rwanda to halt its assist for the M23 insurgent group throughout a joint press convention with Tshisekedi in Paris.
Onesphore Sematumba, an analyst with the Worldwide Disaster Group, mentioned the seize of Rubaya was a big growth within the battle.
“Rubaya has mining deposits and doubtless it will enable M23 to use them,” he instructed the AP.
The March 23 Motion, or M23, is a insurgent navy group primarily made up of ethnic Tutsis that broke away from the Congolese military simply over a decade in the past. They staged a big offensive in 2012 and took over the provincial capital of Goma close to the border with Rwanda, the identical metropolis they’re threatening once more.
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Observe AP’s Africa protection at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa