Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken over the key eastern trading town of Minova, according to various sources.
The fall of the city puts the rebels within 40km (25 miles) of provincial capital, Goma, which lies close to the border with Rwanda.
It comes two weeks after the M23 captured Masisi, with the Congolese army launching a counteroffensive to retake the town.
There has been intense fighting in recent months between the rebels and the government forces in the mineral-rich region, with over 200,000 people being forced from their homes.
The Reuters news agency quotes Corneille Nangaa, the head of the Congo River Alliance that includes the M23, as saying that “Minova is in our hands”.
The provincial governor, Jean-Jacques Purusi, confirmed the capture, Reuters reports.
A contact in Goma, who spoke to the BBC, also said Minova had fallen to the rebels.
The fighting has also seen an influx of wounded people being treated at the hospital in the provincial capital, the AFP news agency quotes Red Cross officials as saying.
“Between December 1 and 21 we saw 100 patients (and) between the January 1 and 20 we had 211 patients,” Myriam Favier, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in North Kivu province, told AFP.
Since 2021, the M23 have periodically been fighting and taken control of vast swathes of eastern DR Congo. As a consequence of the violence hundreds of thousands of people have fled.
Last year, it was feared the rebels would march to take to Goma, estimated to have a population of between one and two million people.
There was a lull in fighting in late July, but heavy fighting resumed in October, and worsened towards the end of the year.
On Monday, rights group Amnesty International said a significant uptick in attacks in civilian areas by both sides in the past month has had devastating consequences for civilians.
The M23 is often accused by DR Congo and the UN of being Rwanda’s proxy force, but Rwanda denies this.
Last year however, Rwanda did not deny a UN report saying it had about 4,000 soldiers fighting alongside the M23 in DR Congo.
There have been a number of diplomatic initiatives by neighbouring countries and others to resolve the conflicts, which have failed.
The last talks, had been due on December 15, between the leaders of Rwanda and the DR Congo but were called off at the last minute amid differences between the countries’ leaders.—BBC
