Goma falls to Congo rebels

Rebel fighters have seized a major city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after the national army fled and UN peacekeepers offered no resistance.

The militia group M23, allegedly backed by neighbouring Rwanda, marched into the city of 1 million people on Tuesday morning after days of clashes.

Scores of heavily armed rebels walked through the city unchallenged as UN peacekeepers watched and small groups of residents greeted them.

M23 spokesman Colonel Vianney Kazarama told Reuters: "The town of Goma fell at 11.33 local time, despite the attack helicopters, despite the heavy weapons, the FARDC [Congolese army] has let the town fall into our hands."

M23 and the Congolese army were engaged in running battles in the centre of Goma from early on Tuesday morning. M23 made significant advances, particularly in the streets around the airport, which remained under the control of the UN peacekeeping mission, Monusco.

Sporadic booms and persistent light arms fire echoed around the eerily deserted streets of the normally bustling city centre. By late morning M23 had forced the army towards the west of the city; many government troops then fled on the road leading west.

At midday a patrol of some 20 M23 fighters marched down the principal Boulevard Kanyamuhunga, all the way to the Rwandan border. The few citizens who remained greeted the rebels with applause and cries of "Karibou!" – Swahili for welcome.

Police gladly surrendered their weapons at the border post as M23 soldiers secured the abandoned immigration offices.

Monusco did not engage M23 in battle in Goma, according to a South African soldier who did not give his name. "We [Monusco] have had no trouble with M23, to be honest," he said.

The 20 M23 soldiers continued their patrol along the shore of Lake Kivu and met UN armoured personnel carriers along the way. No shots were fired or animosity shown.

Not all citizens were as pleased as those applauding the rebels near the border. Bisimwa Sadiki sat with his family outside a Monusco base. "We came to Monusco to hide, but they won't open the gates," Sadiki said.

"We're scared M23 will kill us. These soldiers haven't done anything but they are just the first wave – we don't know if others will come and attack us."

Chantelle Kambeba was also keen to express her disappointment in the national army, which by early afternoon seemed to have abandoned the city. "We haven't seen them at all, we don't know where they are," she said.

There was also scorn for the Congolese president, Joseph Kabila. "Kabila's little game is finished," said Gabriel Alamazani. "He must resign, he must hand power to [opposition leader Étienne] Tshisekedi. He cannot continue now."

The M23 uprising against Kabila began in April. The group has been accused by the UN and Human Rights Watch of atrocities including rapes and the recruitment of child soldiers.

There have been warnings of a humanitarian disaster if fighting continues. Tariq Riebl, Oxfam's humanitarian co-ordinator, said: "More than 50,000 people have fled camps and homes since Sunday and are in dire need of shelter, water and food. Families have been split up overnight and people are desperately going between sites trying to find loved ones.

"If fighting intensifies further, there are very few places people can go for safety. With almost 2.5 million people now displaced across eastern Congo, this catastrophe requires a concerted humanitarian and diplomatic response."

Goma was last threatened by rebels in 2008 when fighters stopped just short of the city.