Rwanda-backed rebels claim to have seized a second airport in east Congo

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo claimed Friday that they have seized a second airport in the region following a days-long advance, as the U.N. warned that the recent escalation of fighting with government forces has left 350,000 internally displaced people without shelter.

The Associated Press could not immediately confirm if the Kavumu national airport was under the control of the M23 rebels or government forces. Government officials and civil society leaders did not immediately comment.

Locals told the AP on Friday morning that the rebels were a few kilometers (miles) away from the airport, a strategic spot for the Congolese military in their fight with the rebels.

M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said on X that the rebels took over the Kavumu airport and its surroundings to “eliminate the threat at the source.” “The airport posed a danger to the civilian population,” he said.

The Kavumu airport became a target after the M23 rebels seized the region's largest city of Goma, including the international airport there, in late January. Goma is a critical trade and humanitarian hub that hosted many of the close to 6.5 million people displaced in the conflict, the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

The rebels last week declared a unilateral ceasefire that the government dismissed as false. They have continued to advance towards South Kivu's provincial capital of Bukavu, seizing several nearby towns including Katana, which was captured on Friday. The town is 7 kilometers (4 miles) from Kavumu airport.

The M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east. The rebellion has killed at least 2,000 people in and around Goma and left hundreds of thousands of displaced people stranded, the U.N. and Congolese authorities have said.

The U.N. refugee agency, meanwhile, said on Friday that hundreds of thousands of displaced people are now in overcrowded makeshift shelters, churches, schools and hospitals.

“Heavy artillery shelling and looting have destroyed 70,000 emergency shelters around Goma and Minova in North and South Kivu provinces, leaving some 350,000 internally displaced people once again without roofs over their heads,” the agency said.