Congo's army and Burundian allies slow M23 rebel's southern march
At the packed football stadium in Bukavu on Thursday, authorities sought to recruit civilian volunteers to defend the city as the crowd chanted "Free Goma".
Congolese troops with support from Burundi's army appeared on Friday to be holding back a push south by M23 rebels seeking to expand their grip on eastern Congo in a weeks-old advance that has raised fears of a broader regional conflict.
Earlier this week the M23 rebels seized Goma, the largest city in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo - home to lucrative gold, coltan and tin ore mines - before shifting their focus to Bukavu in neighbouring South Kivu province.
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After early progress, however, three sources including South Kivu governor Jean-Jacques Purusi Sadiki told Reuters the Congolese army and its allies were succeeding in holding the rebels back.
One person with direct knowledge of the fighting said a force of around 1,500 including Congolese troops, Burundian soldiers and local militia fighters had deployed to defend the town of Nyabibwe some 50 km (30 miles) from Bukavu.
The source declined to be identified for security reasons.
Bukavu last fell to rebels in 2004 to a previous Tutsi-led insurgency that rights groups accused of civilian killings and widespread rape.
At the packed football stadium in Bukavu on Thursday, authorities sought to recruit civilian volunteers to defend the city as the crowd chanted "Free Goma".
"It's been 30 years that we've been victims of war and done nothing. But today, the youth are standing up to be on the front lines," said Fiacre Kalugusha, a man in the crowd.
Bukavu residents told Reuters on Friday that the city's inhabitants had begun stocking up on food, torches and batteries, or fleeing along the road towards the border with Burundi.
"Sometimes gunshots ring out in the city and this also contributes to reinforcing the psychosis," said Helene, a Bukavu resident. "We feel surrounded by M23, and it is scary."
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