https://arab.news/6au45
- The rebels were a few kilometers (miles) away from the airport
- The Kavumu airport became a target after the M23 rebels seized Goma
GOMA: Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo claimed Friday that they have seized a second airport in the region following a days-long advance toward the Kavumu airport, which serves the South Kivu province.
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.
The Kavumu airport became a target after the M23 rebels seized Goma, including the international airport there, in late January. Goma is the region’s largest city and the development was a major escalation of the yearslong fighting with Congolese forces in the region.
The M23 rebels — the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east — have since advanced deeper into the neighboring South Kivu province.
The rebellion has killed at least 2,000 people in and around Goma and left hundreds of thousands of displaced people stranded, the UN and Congolese authorities have said.