M23 rebels seize DRC mining town: reports

Fighters from M23 movement seized control of a key mining settlement in Democratic Republic of Congo, their latest advance in the country's east, local sources said on Sunday.

Residents told AFP by telephone that the armed group took control of Lumbishi, a mineral-rich site in the South Kivu region, around 1530 GMT on Saturday.

From there they were progressing towards Numbi and Shanje, two other locations in the surrounding Kalehe territory, sources said.

"Since this morning there has been fighting against the enemy in Kalehe," said a security source who asked not to be named on Sunday.

Thousands of displacements

M23, or the "Movement of March 23", is allegedly backed by Kigali and aided by Rwandan troops.

Since 2021 it has occupied wide swathes of the mineral-rich east of the DRC.

At least 237,000 people have been displaced since the start of January by fighting between the DRC army and M23, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

A planned December 15 summit aimed at halting the fighting was cancelled at the last moment when the two sides could not agree on terms for the talks.

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