Rising Tensions: How the DRC Plans to Counter Rwanda-backed Militant Advances

After taking control of the majority of the biggest city in the mineral-rich east of the country, Rwandan-backed fighters have advanced farther, and the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has promised a "vigorous" military response.

The recent takeover of the majority of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, by the Rwanda-backed M23 marks a sharp uptick in the years-long campaign that has seen them annex large areas of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The March 23 Movement, or M23, is one of several competing armed factions in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has seen both domestic and international conflict over the last thirty years.

The continent has been rocked by the M23 offensive, with the United Nations, United States, China, and European Union calling for a halt to hostilities and Eastern and Southern African regional blocs convening emergency summits.

In a late-night speech on Wednesday, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi declared that a "vigorous and coordinated response against these terrorists and their sponsors is under way," his first statements since M23 rebels took control of a large portion of Goma.

In the face of a "unprecedented worsening of the security situation" that may "straightly lead to an escalation" in the larger Great Lakes region, he denounced the international community's "silence and inaction," calling it a "affront."

Earlier on Wednesday, Tshisekedi refused to go to crisis talks with Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda.

The regional East African Community bloc urged the DRC to "directly engage with all stakeholders, including the M23," and "called for peaceful settlement of the conflicts" after the virtual summit.

Kagame informed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that his nation was "in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator" in a late-night social media post.

In the last week, thirteen South African troops who were assigned to the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC) and a UN peacekeeping force were slain in the DRC.

The SAMIDRC "has no place in this situation and is not a peacekeeping force," according to Kagame.

On Friday, a special session on the situation will be held in Zimbabwe by the 16-nation Southern African Development Community.

Angola, which has previously mediated a ceasefire between the DRC army and M23, has also demanded an urgent meeting between Rwandan and Congolese leaders in Luanda, its capital.