Kinshasa: The number of fatalities from two explosions in Bukavu, located in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has increased to 16, according to government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya.
The blasts occurred on Thursday in central Bukavu shortly after a political rally backing the M23 rebels. Both the government and M23 have traded accusations regarding responsibility for the explosions.
M23 asserts control over various areas in eastern DRC, including Bukavu and Goma, the capitals of South Kivu and North Kivu. Following the establishment of a parallel administration in North Kivu in mid-February, M23 named a ‘governor’ for South Kivu as of Friday.
The conflict between M23 and the DRC government is deeply rooted in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, coupled with longstanding ethnic tensions.
The DRC has accused Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels, while Rwanda contends that the DRC military is allied with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a rebel group linked to the genocide against Tutsis.
This ongoing conflict has caused massive population displacements and exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation. Despite diplomatic and military efforts to quell the violence, tensions continue to escalate.
A meeting of foreign ministers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) that was scheduled for Friday in Harare, Zimbabwe, was canceled for reasons that remain unclear.
The recent joint SADC-EAC summit held three weeks ago in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was part of ongoing peace initiatives aimed at resolving the crisis in the Great Lakes region, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
On February 27, the UN expressed growing concern, noting that “the humanitarian crisis is worsening as violence escalates in three eastern provinces of the DRC.”
Increased hostilities have been reported in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri, with M23 rebels in the Kivus indicating ambitions to march towards Kinshasa. Meanwhile, the violence in Ituri is often attributed to land disputes, resource competition, and ethnic conflicts. The eastern DRC is known for its mineral wealth.