Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.

Israeli Arbel Yehoud, 29, who had been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters as she is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

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Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

On January 27, the March 23 (M23) rebel movement in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo entered Goma and took control of major parts of the city. The M23’s movement into Goma is a drastic escalation in what has been cycles of violence, rebellion, and international engagement in the region.

The M23 rebels backed by Rwanda have expanded their control over the provincial capital of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo following their invasion on Monday. After the early-morning incursion,

Many of the millions of people trapped in eastern Congo’s escalating rebellion face a terrible choice: Retreat into Congo’s interior and seek the protection of an army in disarray, or cross into nearby Rwanda,

Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who’s been mediating peace talks between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, called for the withdrawal of Rwandan-backed M23 rebels from the city of Goma and for Rwandan troops to leave Congolese territory.

The M23 group is one of about 100 armed factions vying for a foothold in eastern Congo, where a decades-long conflict has raged. The group, made up primarily of ethnic Tutsis who failed to integrate into the Congolese army,

M23 is an armed group operating in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with backing from the Rwandan government which the latter denies.

M23 is an armed group operating in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with backing from the Rwandan government which the latter denies.