# DRC cuts ties with Rwanda as rebels close in on Goma
By IO Digest Desk
The Democratic Republic of the Congo severed diplomatic relations with Rwanda on 2025-01-25 as Rwandan-backed M23 rebels accelerated their push toward Goma, the strategic provincial capital of North Kivu in eastern Congo.
The move came amid mounting claims from Congolese and international sources that Rwanda was directly involved in the offensive. According to the evidence packet, intelligence officials said large numbers of Rwandan troops had been crossing the border to help the M23 militia seize Goma before an emergency UN Security Council meeting.
Congolese diplomats were also recalled from Rwanda, and the foreign ministry ordered Rwandan diplomatic and consular activities in Kinshasa to end within 48 hours. The breakdown in relations reflected how quickly the fighting had escalated from a battlefield issue into a formal state-to-state crisis.
On the ground, the rebels were tightening their grip around the city. The evidence packet says M23 fighters had taken Minova, a key town along one of Goma’s main supply routes, and then captured Sake, a town 12 miles from Goma that had previously served as the army’s main defensive position against the rebels. Those advances placed additional pressure on the city’s food and supply lines.
Residents were already feeling the impact. Human Rights Watch’s Clémentine de Montjoye said reports from Goma described fighting north and west of the city, along with water and power shortages. She warned that the large number of civilians sheltering in the city made the need to protect hospitals, infrastructure and humanitarian access urgent.
The military situation also had a heavy toll on peacekeeping forces. The evidence packet says 13 UN peacekeepers were killed in the fighting, including nine South Africans, three Malawians and a Uruguayan member of the UN mission. The crisis prompted the UN Security Council meeting to be brought forward.
International pressure on Rwanda was increasing, but not enough to halt the offensive. The European Union said Rwanda must cease support for M23 and withdraw. The UK, US and France were also criticized in the evidence packet for being too close to President Paul Kagame, a sign of frustration that diplomatic leverage had not translated into a breakthrough.
The evidence packet says Goma was home to about one million people and that rebels were moving closer to the airport. Flights were being grounded, UN staff were told to stay sheltered and civilians were fleeing as the front line tightened around the city.
The situation in eastern Congo is not new, but it has now reached a level that could redraw the map of the conflict. The M23 movement, one of the most organized armed groups in the region, had already been taking more territory. The immediate question on 2025-01-25 was whether the Congolese government and its partners could stop the collapse of Goma before it became irreversible.
By cutting ties with Rwanda, Kinshasa signaled that it no longer treated the conflict as a matter for quiet diplomacy. It was a public declaration that the crisis had entered a far more dangerous phase, with regional consequences that could spread well beyond the borders around Lake Kivu.
