M23 forces standing beside house
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have captured the strategic mining hub of Walikale in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
M23 rebels entered Walikale on Wednesday. Spokesperson for the Congolese army, Nestor Mavudisa, confirmed on Thursday that “the enemy” now controlled Walikale.
The town in North Kivu province is the farthest west that the rebels have reached during its rapid advance that started in January. Earlier this year, M23 seized Goma and Bukavu.
The capture of Walikale came a day after DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame called for an immediate ceasefire after meeting in Doha.
Corneille Nangaa, head of Congolese rebel coalition Congo River Alliance, which includes M23, dismissed the call for a ceasefire.
Nangaa told Reuters news agency “we are Congolese who are fighting for a cause,” he continued, “what happened in Doha, as long as we don’t know the details, and as long as it doesn’t solve our problems, we’ll say it doesn’t concern us".
Speaking to AFP news agency, an officer in the Congolese military said that forces had “retreated to avoid human losses”.
The town of about 15,000 people is also home to large deposits of tin and many significant gold mines.
In capturing Walikale, M23 rebels have also taken control of a road linking four provinces in the east of the country, cutting off the army’s positions. This also places M23 within 250 miles of the country’s fourth largest city, Kisangani.
The UN has reported that the conflict has forced tens of thousands of people to flee to surrounding countries.
Read more on Al Jazeera here and on the Guardian here.