In a stunning blow to cease-fire hopes, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized the mineral-rich town of Walikale in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) late Wednesday, marking their deepest incursion yet into the country’s heartland, local sources revealed Thursday.
The capture of the mining hub, home to about 60,000 people, underscores the group’s boldest advance since its 2012 emergence, shattering fragile optimism sparked just a day earlier when Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame met unexpectedly in Doha, voicing support for peace.
Yet, with Qatar’s mediators cautioning that truce terms remain elusive, the rebels’ lightning strike – far west of their usual territory – casts a dark shadow over the region’s faltering path to calm.
"Walikale-Centre is occupied by the M23. ... We retreated to avoid human losses," an officer in DRC’s military, known as FARDC, told Agence France-Presse (AFP), saying its forces were now about 30 kilometers (18 miles) away in Mubi.
A separate security source confirmed the capture and said fighting also erupted in Mubi on Thursday.
The offensive had already forced mining company Alphamin this month to evacuate employees and halt operations at the world’s third-most productive tin mine.
The Bisie site, which produces the tin ore cassiterite, is located in the Walikale district of North Kivu province.
The halt in mining drove up tin prices, raising concerns over the supply chain of the valuable metal used to solder electronic components onto circuit boards.
Booming demand from the electronics and renewable energy sectors has fueled its value, analysts say.
The region also hosts several gold mines.
The M23 fighters "are in the neighborhoods of Walikale," Fiston Misona, a civil society representative from the community, said early Thursday.
Another resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they saw groups of armed fighters "through the windows" of their home.
A Doctors Without Borders base was "caught in the crossfire" during the fighting, but no injuries were reported, local official Marco Doneda said.
"The MSF team is concerned about the influx of those wounded in the coming days and hours," he added.
The M23 has waged a rapid push over the past few months in eastern DRC’s mineral-rich region, driving the Congolese army out of much of North and South Kivu provinces and stoking fears of a broader regional war.
Walikale lies at the junction of two roads from Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu, both now under M23 control.
The DRC government accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 to seize valuable mineral resources and farmland.
Rwanda denies providing military support, but a U.N. experts’ report says Rwanda maintains about 4,000 troops in eastern DRC to assist the group.
On Tuesday, Kagame and Tshisekedi met in Doha for talks mediated by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
The two African leaders – whose previous attempts at talks collapsed at the last minute – expressed support for "an immediate and unconditional cease-fire," a joint statement from the three countries said.
No details have emerged on how a cease-fire would be implemented, as it would also need to involve the M23 to succeed.
By coming to the table in Doha, "Kagame is implicitly recognizing his role in the rebellion in the east," Thierry Vircoulon, an associate researcher at the Sub-Saharan Africa Centre of the French Institute for International Relations, told AFP.
The M23, however, "has no negotiating agenda," he said.
"They have no demands. Their goal is to oust Tshisekedi from power."
The meeting followed the cancellation of peace talks between Kinshasa and the M23, scheduled for Tuesday in Luanda, Angola.
Half a dozen cease-fires and truces have been brokered – and broken – since late 2021.
