HARARE, January 28. /TASS/. Protesters have attacked embassies of countries allegedly supporting the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Voice of Congo radio station reported on Tuesday.
Demonstrators looted Uganda's Embassy and set fire to the French Embassy after burning the French flag outside the building, the radio station said, citing eyewitnesses. Protesters have also set up roadblocks with burning tires across Congo's capital, Kinshasa.
Authorities have deployed police forces to restore order.
Congolese social networks are flooded with calls to paralyze city life in protest against Rwanda's alleged support of the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 group and the exploitation of the republic's natural resources. In several cities across Congo, people have organized rallies of solidarity with the Congolese army, which is defending against attacks by rebels and the Rwandan army, as well as with the populations of the North Kivu and Ituri provinces that have been affected by the hostilities.
Fighting continues between the republic's regular army units and M23 rebels in Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo. The Congolese army holds key strategic positions in the city, while UN and Southern African Development Community peacekeepers are safeguarding the international airport.
The conflict in eastern Congo has raged for many years. After the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda and their defeat in the civil war, some government forces, mostly Hutus, withdrew to what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). There, they clashed with the local Tutsi population. Rwanda, where the Tutsis had come to power, backed the Banyamulenge, a minority ethnic group in South Kivu province. Over time, Congolese separatists aligned with them.
In 2012, the M23 group was formed, composed of deserters from the Congolese army. The rebels, most of whom are Tutsi, began hostilities in eastern Congo in January 2021, capturing several towns and over 100 villages in North Kivu province.