DRC tells UN the Rwanda-backed rebel advance is 'a declaration of war'

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s foreign minister on Sunday warned that an “attack of unprecedented intensity is taking place in plain sight of the world”.

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner was speaking at an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council.

''Additional Rwandan troops have crossed the boundary markers 12 and 13 of the crossing between Goma and Gisenyi, penetrating into our land in broad daylight, in open and deliberate violation of our national sovereignty.

She described the move as “a frontal aggression, a declaration of war, which no longer hides itself behind diplomatic manoeuvres”.

Her comments came as M23 rebels, who have vowed to defence Tutsi interests, and allied Rwandan forces entered the outskirts of Goma in the eastern DRC.

The Rwandan-backed rebel group has made significant territorial gains in the region in recent weeks.

Goma, the provincial capital, is home to around two million people and a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.

Rwanda which denies backing the rebels, for its part blamed the fighting on the DRC’s support for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

The group was founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda after taking part in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

“For the last three decades, instability, attacks, infiltration, shelling and loss of life due to armed groups activities on Rwandan territory have come singularly from across the border, from DRC,” said Ernest Rwamucyo, Rwanda’s ambassador to the UN.

“Why is DRC preserving the FDLR, making it a strategic ally? DRC must disengage, neutralize and completely expel FDLR from its territory so that we can have peace,” he said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged Rwandan troops to leave the DRC and cease aiding M23 rebels nearing Goma.

The rebel group on Monday claimed to have captured the city.

Several foreign peacekeepers have been killed in the mounting violence around Goma.