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With fears of further destabilization rising, the African Union on Sunday warned against the possible disintegration of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The alarm was raised just two days after the M23 rebel group, which is believed to have Rwandan support, took control of a second strategic city in the country’s conflict-ridden east.
“We don’t want a balkanisation of eastern DRC,” the AU’s Peace and Security Commissioner Bankole Adeoye told reporters.
Without naming Rwanda, he added: “We are calling for the immediate removal of M23 and their supporters from all towns and cities including Goma airport.”
At the end of January, the M23 rebel group seized control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, marking a significant escalation in the long-running conflict in eastern DRC. Following this major advance, the rebels pushed further south, intensifying violence in a region that has suffered from decades of armed clashes.
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The conflict has rattled other nations. UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on Saturday that a “regional escalation must be avoided at all costs”.
Adeoye warned that any disregard for the sovereignty, political unity, and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of Congo would be unacceptable, calling it a fundamental principle that must be upheld.
