Kinshasa: Gunfire and explosions erupted at a mass rally held by rebel leader Corneille Nangaa in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu on Thursday, causing chaos as crowds fled. Residents reported multiple casualties, with several people killed and wounded in the violence.
Videos from the scene showed people running through the streets, some bleeding and carrying motionless bodies. Witnesses stated they saw dead bodies, but an official casualty count was not immediately available.
As reported by the international news agency Reuters, Nangaa, speaking by phone, accused Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi of orchestrating the attack, though he provided no evidence to support his claim. The government has not yet issued a response.
Nangaa confirmed that he was unharmed and that other senior figures within the rebel coalition remained safe. His group, which has been engaged in battles with the Congolese army and has seized large areas of territory in the east since the beginning of the year, continues to hold control over parts of the region.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, along with the United Nations and Western governments, has accused neighboring Rwanda of backing Nangaa’s M23 rebel group—a charge that Rwanda has consistently denied. The rebel advance has heightened fears of a broader regional conflict that could escalate beyond Congo’s borders.
Prior to the outbreak of violence, Nangaa addressed a crowd of thousands, asserting that M23 had entered Bukavu to bring security. He announced the deployment of special units and patrols across the city’s communes, marking his first public appearance in Bukavu since the rebel takeover on February 16.
According to one resident, the shooting began at the conclusion of the rally. “There was gunfire in all directions. We don’t know what happened. There are injured people, dead people—I don’t know how many,” the resident said.
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M23 has sought to portray itself as capable of maintaining order in the areas it has captured, reopening ports and schools as part of its governance efforts. However, its continued military advances mark the most significant escalation of violence in eastern Congo in over a decade, reviving longstanding tensions rooted in the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and competition for control over Congo’s vast mineral resources.
Rwanda, for its part, insists that it is defending itself against the threat posed by a Hutu militia, which it claims is aligned with the Congolese military.
