Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have reached the heart of Bukavu, east Congo's second-largest city.
The rebels have seized the South Kivu province administrative office amidst scenes of cheering residents and fleeing government forces.
Associated Press journalists on the ground witnessed the rebels' arrival in Bukavu's city centre on Sunday morning, marking a significant expansion of their control after capturing Goma, the region's major city, late last month.
While some residents celebrated the rebels' presence, other parts of the city remained deserted, with many residents sheltering indoors.
The M23 rebels, which the UN said were supported by an estimated 4,000 Rwandan troops, are the most powerful of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo's resource-rich east.
Their advance on Bukavu, a city of approximately 1.3 million people, represents an unprecedented expansion of their territorial control.
Unlike their 2012 seizure of Goma, which was linked to ethnic tensions, analysts suggest the rebels' current objective is political power.
The rebels' advance into Bukavu on Saturday triggered widespread panic and looting, with thousands of civilians and numerous Congolese soldiers fleeing the city.
The extent of the rebels' control over Bukavu remains unclear.
Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi held a security meeting in the faraway capital of Kinshasa, where officials noted that Bukavu was “briefly” invaded by M23 but remains under the control of the Congolese army and allies from local militia, the presidency said on X.
There were no signs of fighting or of Congolese forces in most parts of Bukavu on Sunday.
Tshisekedi has warned of the risk of a regional expansion of the conflict. Congo's forces are being supported in Bukavu by troops from Burundi and in Goma by troops from South Africa.
Burundi's president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, appeared to suggest his country will not retaliate in the fighting.
In a post on X he said that “those people who were ready to get profit of the armed attack of Rwanda to Burundi will not see this.”
The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes M23, said it was committed to “defending the people of Bukavu” in a Saturday statement that did not acknowledge their presence in the city.
“We call on the population to remain in control of their city and not give in to panic,” Lawrence Kanyuka, the alliance’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
The fighting in Congo has connections with a decades-long ethnic conflict. M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and others in Rwanda.
Many Hutus fled to Congo after the genocide and founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group.
Rwanda says the group is “fully integrated” into the Congolese military, which denies the charges.
