Despite efforts to mediate a ceasefire this week, local reports said Thursday that the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has taken over the mining center of Walikale in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since its founding in 2012, the anti-government group had not ventured this far west into the interior of the Democratic Republic of the Congo until late Wednesday, when it took control of the town, which is home to about 60,000 people.
It comes just after Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, and Felix Tshisekedi, the president of Congo, held unexpected discussions in Doha on Tuesday and declared their support for a ceasefire.
The conditions of any truce, however, are uncertain because mediator Qatar stated that more talks were required.
“Walikale-centre is occupied by the M23… We retreated to avoid human losses,” an officer in the DRC’s military (FARDC) told AFP, saying its forces were now around 30 kilometers (20 miles) away in Mubi.
Fighting occurred in Mubi on Thursday, according to a different security source, who also confirmed the capture.
Earlier this month, Alphamin, a mining company, evacuated its workers and stopped operations at the third-most productive tin mine in the world due to the offensive.
Situated in the Walikale area of North Kivu province, the Bisie site is the source of the tin ore cassiterite. As worries about the supply chain of the precious metal used to solder electronic components onto printed circuit boards grow, tin prices have increased due to the mining halt.
Analysts claim that the surge in the electronics and renewable energy industries has fueled rising demand. There are numerous gold mines in the area as well.
According to Fiston Misona, a community civil society activist, the M23 fighters “are in the neighbourhoods of Walikale” as of early Thursday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a different resident claimed to have seen armed combatants in groups “through the windows” of their home.
According to local MSF spokesman Marco Doneda, a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) base was “caught in the crossfire” during the battle, but no injuries were reported.
“The MSF team is concerned about the influx of those wounded in the coming days and hours,” he stated.