Advance of rebels in DR Congo threatens regional peace: UN

UNITED NATIONS — The M23 armed group is advancing on strategic zones in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after taking two key cities, the United Nations warned on Wednesday, underscoring the threat of a regional conflict.

Recent weeks have seen the rapid progression of the M23, which has seized vast tracts of the eastern DR Congo, including the cities of Goma and Bukavu on Lake Kivu.

"If our information is correct, (the M23) continues to advance toward other strategic areas in North and South Kivu," the UN Secretary-General's special envoy for the Great Lakes region, Huang Xia, told the Security Council.

He said that "the risk of a regional conflagration is more real than ever", adding that such a conflict would have "catastrophic" consequences.

"History is repeating itself," he warned, noting that "as dramatic as the situation seems today, it can still get worse".

The fighting in recent weeks has raised fears of a repeat of the Second Congo War, from 1998 to 2003, which drew in multiple African countries and resulted in millions of deaths.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday said about 90 sites of internally displaced persons in the city of Goma were destroyed amid rebel hostilities.

A total of 248,676 people have been affected by the destruction of 90 sites amid hostilities around Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, which the M23 rebels claimed to have captured on Jan 27, the WHO said in its latest situation report.

The WHO noted that the security situation remains "extremely volatile" in Goma, a crucial logistics hub for the entire region in distributing humanitarian aid.

Agencies - Xinhua