Congo army runaways loot and sow panic in North Kivu town
Passengers arriving from Bukavu disembark from the Emmanuel boat, on its first trip between Bukavu and Goma since the city was taken by M23 rebels, in Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo on February 18, 2025.
The Congolese army called on deserters to rejoin their units on Thursday, as rogue soldiers fired guns and looted parts of the eastern town of Lubero after fleeing nearby clashes with advancing Rwandan-backed rebels.
The unrest points to mounting disarray within the Congolese armed forces in the face of the M23 rebel group's ongoing offensive, which has captured eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's two largest cities and stoked fears of a wider war.
