The M23 rebel group reached Bukavu, regional capital of South Kivu, on Saturday. It is the second regional capital to fall under the control of the rebels since they took up arms again against the government in 2022.

The Rwanda-backed M23 fighters claim to have taken control of Kavumu airport serving Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The airport, primarily used for NGO and military flights and where DRC troops had been stationed,

Rwanda-backed rebels reached the center of east Congo’s second largest city, Bukavu, on Sunday morning and took control of the South Kivu province administrative office after little resistance from government forces,

Rwanda-backed rebels have reached the center of east Congo’s second-largest city, Bukavu, and taken control of the South Kivu province administrative office.

Rwanda-backed rebels have reached the center of east Congo's second-largest city, Bukavu, and taken control of the South Kivu province administrative office.

M23 rebels have taken control of the strategic Kavumu airport that serves Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, the rebel group and a civil security source said Friday. The rebels also seized the town of Katana.

M23 rebels patrol the centre of east Congo's second-largest city Bukavu, in South Kivu, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/)

After the M23 Rwanda-backed rebels Feb. 16 occupied Bukavu, a second major city in mineral-rich eastern Congo, Catholic bishops and experts are warning this offensive in the provinces of North and South Kivu signals a clear intent to establish a permanent foreign country presence in the region.

Interview - Marcus Bachmann, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) head of programmes for South Kivu province, explains the situation in this part of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as the conflict evolves.

In Bukavu, a chaotic situation was unfolding ... we shall remove these clothes because we have noticed that the government in Kinshasa abandoned us. It is not supplying us with anything. It is sending us to the [battle] field but we don't have the means ...

Pacifique Murhula, a cab driver in Bukavu, the rebel-controlled capital of DR Congo’s South Kivu Province, did not see any good reason why he “would waste time going to vote” during the country’s turbulent presidential polls in December 2023.