{"id":53016,"date":"2025-02-15T13:12:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T13:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/m23-fighters-enter-bukavu-as-congolese-and-burundian-forces-flee\/"},"modified":"2025-02-17T20:54:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T20:54:59","slug":"m23-fighters-enter-bukavu-as-congolese-and-burundian-forces-flee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/m23-fighters-enter-bukavu-as-congolese-and-burundian-forces-flee\/","title":{"rendered":"M23 fighters enter Bukavu as Congolese and Burundian forces flee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The rebels advanced through Bagira commune in the northwest of Bukavu after capturing key areas in the province, including Kavumu and its airport.<\/p>\n<p>Bukavu, a city spanning 45 square kilometers and home to approximately 1.3 million people, has been in a state of fear since M23&#8217;s arrival. Many residents locked themselves inside their homes for safety.<\/p>\n<p>A large number of Congolese government troops, part of the coalition forces in the region, fled the city using military vehicles or on foot. High-ranking officials, including civilian leaders, military officers, and police personnel, also abandoned their posts.<\/p>\n<p>A security official told Jeune Afrique that both Congolese and Burundian troops retreated towards southeastern Bukavu, near the Kamanyola border between DRC and Burundi.<\/p>\n<p>According to reports from inside the city, M23 fighters faced little resistance while entering Bukavu, as the Congolese army seemingly did not put up a fight. However, sporadic gunfire was heard on the outskirts of the city during the night.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike in Goma, where intense battles were fought on its outskirts, Bukavu\u2019s infrastructure remains intact. Electricity and water supplies continue to function normally.<\/p>\n<p>Corneille Nangaa, the leader of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a coalition that includes M23, confirmed that their fighters had entered Bukavu. However, as of the morning of February 15, they had not taken full control of the city.<\/p>\n<p>Bukavu holds significant strategic importance for the Congolese military. Losing it would force many of their soldiers to flee into neighboring Burundi, particularly the Cibitoke province.<\/p>\n<p>For M23, capturing the entire city would mark a major victory, granting them control over the entire Congolese side of Lake Kivu. As they did in Goma after seizing it on January 27, 2025, M23 could install a new administration in South Kivu.<\/p>\n<p>Reports from South Kivu suggest that the Congolese army&#8217;s retreat from the city might be a tactical move to lure M23 into a trap, engaging them in combat once they are fully inside Bukavu.<\/p>\n<p>It appears that M23 is proceeding cautiously, aiming to avoid heavy urban warfare that could result in significant civilian casualties.<\/p>\n<p>Nangaa stated that on February 15, M23 forces would focus on what he called &#8220;cleansing the city,&#8221; eliminating any threats that could compromise Bukavu\u2019s security.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-81719 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/pic_1-192.jpg\" alt=\"The first contingent of armed M23 fighters entered Bukavu city.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-81718 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/pic_2-139.jpg\" alt=\"The geographical location of Bukavu in DRC.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-81717 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/pic_3-115.jpg\" alt=\"Some parts of Bukavu are under the control of M23 rebels.\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On February 14, 2025, the first wave of armed M23 fighters entered Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2000081716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000081716,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-297.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-297.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-297.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-297.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-297.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-297.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000081716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53016"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53016"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}