Rwandan-backed M23 rebels were seen in the centre of eastern Congo's second-largest city, Bukavu, on Sunday, said a local official, a security source and five eyewitnesses.
A spokesperson for the M23 militia told Reuters: "we are there".
M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma said in a telephone message that the group was in the city.
"I'm at home, and I can see with my own eyes the M23 entering our town," a local official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The governor of South Kivu province confirmed on Sunday that Rwandan-backed M23 rebels had entered the centre of the provincial capital Bukavu from where he said Congolese troops had withdrawn to avoid urban fighting.
The Congolese army confirmed it later.
They (the M23) are in Bukavu," Governor Jean-Jacques Purusi told Reuters in a message.
The armed group had been advancing on the capital of South Kivu province since seizing the city of Goma in late January.
Fighting resumes in DRC's South Kivu ahead of crisis talks
The M23 rebel group entered the outskirts of Bukavu, a city of 1.3 million in eastern DRC, in mid-February 2025.
This happened two weeks after Goma, another city in the region, came under the control of M23 rebels. With support from the Rwandan army, M23 already controls vast territory in eastern DRC.
Thousands flee eastern DRC as M23 rebels encircle provincial capital Goma
The fall of Bukavu represent the most significant expansion of territory under the M23's control since the latest insurgency started in 2022.
(Reuters)
