Explosion at Rally in Bukavu Kills 11, Rebels Blame Congo’s Government- wna24

Bakavu: At least 11 people were killed and many others injured on Thursday when explosions targeted a rally in Bukavu, eastern Congo, organized by M23 rebel leaders.

M23 leaders blamed the bombing on Congo’s government and said attackers were among those killed in the blasts, with conflicting reports among rebels and local officials about the number of attackers and victims. 

Congo’s president blamed the attack on unspecified “foreign” forces.

“The attack caused 11 deaths and verifications are underway. The author of the attack is among the victims,” Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which includes the M23, told reporters. “There are 65 injured, six of whom are seriously injured and are currently being treated in the operating room.”

He said that “following today’s unfortunate incident, we are obliged to react.”

Leaders of the M23 rebel group, including Nangaa, were meeting residents when the explosions occurred in the central part of Bukavu. Video and photos shared on social media showed a crowd fleeing the mass rally in Bukavu and bloodied bodies on the ground.

M23 accused the Congolese authorities of orchestrating the attack.

“We are accusing and condemning vigorously the criminal regime of Kinshasa, which … just implemented its plan of exterminating civilian populations,” AFC said in a statement. “This attack caused several deaths, including a few terrorists from Kinshasa and some injured. Two of them were immediately apprehended by our services.”

“This cowardly and barbaric act will not be without consequences,” it added.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have swept through the region seizing key cities and killing some 3,000 people in the most significant escalation of conflict in over a decade.

In a lightning three-week offensive, the M23 rebels took control of eastern Congo’s main city Goma and seized the second largest city, Bukavu. 

The region is rich in gold and coltan, a key mineral for the production of capacitors used in most consumer electronics such as laptops and smartphones.

Rwanda has accused Congo of enlisting ethnic Hutu fighters responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda of minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

M23 says it’s fighting to protect Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination and wants to transform Congo from a failed state to a modern one. Analysts have called those pretexts for Rwanda’s involvement.