The conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo risks escalating into a broader regional war, Burundi’s president said yesterday, as Africa’s top health agency warned the fighting could spark new outbreaks of serious diseases.The Rwanda-backed armed group M23 has vowed to march on the capital Kinshasa after capturing eastern DRC’s biggest city of Goma earlier this week.The lightning offensive is the latest to scar the mineral-rich region, which has seen relentless conflict involving dozens of armed groups kill an estimated six million people over three decades.The fall of Goma has rattled the continent, prompting international condemnation and fears of a humanitarian crisis.“If it continues like this, war risks becoming widespread in the region,” Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye said.“It is not only Burundi, it is Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya – it is the whole region, it is a threat,” he said in an official video posted to YouTube.His comments echoed similar remarks by UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday.Illustrating the complicated nature of the conflict, Burundi itself has at least 10,000 soldiers in the east of the DRC, a Burundian military source told AFP.Rwanda accused Burundian troops of actively engaging in fighting against the M23.Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on X that Burundian forces had been “more engaged in open fighting against the M23” since October 2023.Many of the Burundian troops, who are there under a previous military agreement with Kinshasa, have been redeployed to the South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu.Locals at the market there expressed their concerns yesterday. “The M23 says that after having taken Goma, they are coming here to our home in South Kivu,” said Henriette Butuna, a seller at Bukavu market. “That’s why we are scared, because we don’t know either the day or the hour” they could arrive.“We are buying to stock up at home,” said Josee Zabibu, one customer.Uganda’s army meanwhile said Friday it would adopt a “forward defensive posture” in eastern DRC.A UN expert report last July said Rwanda had around 4,000 troops in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo, accusing Kigali of having “de facto” control over the M23. Rwanda denies any military involvement, maintaining its goal in eastern DRC is to eradicate a Hutu-led armed group formed in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
