The Meeting Of The Congolese Rebel Group Was Attacked, Shots Fired, Explosions Were Heard

Masina, Congo/ILLUSTRATION OF UNSPLASH/Kaysha

JAKARTA - A number of people were killed and injured when gunfire and explosions were heard at a mass meeting held by rebel leader Corneille Nangaa, in the city of Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

People run around in the streets, some of which are bleeding and carrying a limp body. Residents say they saw a lot of bodies, but there is no information about the number of victims.

Nangaa told Reuters by telephone that Congo President Felix Tshisekedi ordered the attack, without providing evidence. There has been no immediate comment from the government.

Nangaa said he was not injured and senior members of another rebel group survived.

Congo, the United Nations and Western countries say its neighboring Rwanda supports the M23 rebel group in Nangaa an allegation that Rwanda denies.

The insurgent progress raises fears of a regional war that could attract neighboring Congo.

In his speech before the shooting began, Nangaa told thousands of people that M23 had come to Bukavu to bring security. The group has controlled the city since February 16.

"There will be special units and patrols that will be carried out in all competitions," said Nangaa, who first appeared in public at Bukavu since the takeover.

The shooting took place at the end of the meeting, a resident said. "There was shooting in all directions. We don't know what happened. Some were injured, some died, I don't know."

The M23 has been trying to show they can restore order in the areas they are fighting over from the Congo army, and have reopened ports and schools.

The M23 move is the worst escalation in more than a decade of a prolonged conflict in eastern Congo, rooted in the spread of Rwanda's genocide in 1994 into Congo and the struggle to control the region.

Rwanda claims it defends itself against the threat of Hutu militias, which it says are at war with the Congo military.