Rebels suspected of having ties to Rwanda this week seized control of Rubaya, a mining town in eastern Congo known for producing key minerals used in smartphones, the group said in a statement Thursday.
In a statement shared with The Associated Press, a spokesperson for rebel group M23 said the town had been “liberated.”
Aid groups in eastern Congo warn of new humanitarian crisis linked to rebels
The Congolese military declined to comment on the situation.
Decades of conflict in eastern Congo has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 100 armed groups fighting for control of the mineral-rich region near the border with Rwanda. Many groups have been accused of mass murder, rape, and other human rights violations. The violence has displaced approximately 7 million people, many of whom are beyond the reach of aid.
M23 rebels stand with weapons in Kibumba, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, December 23, 2022. The M23 rebel group, suspected of having ties to Rwanda, has captured Rubaya, a mining town in eastern Congo known for its production of important minerals. The organization announced in a statement on Thursday, May 2, 2024, that it is being used in smartphones. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
The town of Rubaya is home to deposits of tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, a key ingredient in smartphone manufacturing. It was one of the minerals named in a letter from the Congolese government earlier this month questioning Apple about its knowledge of “blood minerals” being smuggled in its supply chain.
“The collapse of Rubaya is in some ways the embodiment of this systematic plunder,” Ernest Singoma, a civil society activist in Goma, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Fighting has intensified between M23 rebels and the Congolese army in recent months, and comes as the United Nations plans to withdraw peacekeepers from the region by the end of the year.
Civil society activist John Bunien told The Associated Press that rebel forces were advancing toward the town of Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo and the capital of North Kivu province.
“All supply routes into the city have been cut off. We are just trying to make ends meet,” Bunien said.
Congolese President Felix Shisekedi has accused Rwanda of destabilizing Congo by supporting the M23 rebel group. UN experts, along with the US State Department, have accused Rwanda of supporting rebel groups. Rwanda denies the allegations.
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron called on neighboring Rwanda to end support for the M23 rebel group at a joint press conference with President Tshisekedi in Paris.
International Crisis Group analyst Oncefour Sematumba said the capture of Rubaya was an important development in the conflict.
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“There is definitely a mineral deposit in Rubaya that M23 will be able to exploit,” he told The Associated Press.
The March 23rd Movement (M23) is a military rebel group made up primarily of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army just over a decade ago. They launched a major offensive in 2012, seizing Goma, the provincial capital near the border with Rwanda, and are threatening the same city again.
