NORTH KIVU, DR Congo
M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have taken control of Rubaya, a key mining town for the smartphone mineral coltan, following days of intense fighting, a rebel spokesman said.
Congo's east has been plagued
by violence since the 1990s, killing millions as struggles over national
identity, ethnicity, and resources saw neighbouring countries invade and a
myriad of armed groups spring up.
Willy Ngoma, the Tutsi-led M23
military spokesman, told our reporter the town, in North Kivu, was
under their control after they went after other armed groups in the region
including the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which is composed of ethnic
Hutus.
Congo's army spokesman for its
operations against the rebel group, Lieutenant Colonel Guillaume Njike, said he
could not confirm if the rebels had seized the town.
"We are in the process of
cross-checking since yesterday whether or not it has fallen to the hands of the
M23 rebels," Njike said.
Most of Congo's mineral
resources are concentrated in the east, where insecurity has worsened since the
M23 made a major comeback in March 2022.
Rubaya holds rich deposits of
tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, and which is a critical energy
transition mineral also used in the manufacture of smartphones, laptops and
game consoles.
The M23 have already taken
control of Rubaya twice for a few days since their current offensive began.
The Congolese government,
UN officials and Western powers have accused Rwanda of providing support
for M23, which Rwanda has repeatedly denied.
A youth leader in the town
told our reporter by telephone that the town was encircled by the
rebels.
"There is a large
displacement of the population because the clashes are intense," Clovis
Mafare said, adding that the town's mining quarries were not occupied.
Rubaya was previously under
the control of a pro-government militia group known as the Wazalendo.
The United Nations said in
December that Wazalendo armed groups controlled sites within main exploitation
perimeters, compromising the tin, tantalum and tungsten supply chain.
Conflicts have arisen over the
control of the illicit trade in tin and gold as well as in coltan and tantalum
- all mined in Congo before being smuggled out through neighbouring Rwanda,
Uganda and Burundi.
Congo's government
is currently pushing Apple for more information about its supply
chain over concerns it may be tainted with conflict minerals.
Apple has said it found no
basis to conclude any smelters or refiners in its supply chain financed or
benefited armed groups in Congo or an adjoining country.
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