The mobs protesting the fall of the capital and largest city of North Kivu Province to the M23 fighters targeted the embassies of Rwanda, the United States, France, South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya in the attacks.
The protest attacked and petrol-bombed the French Embassy, causing a fire. Jean-Noël Barrot, France's foreign minister, condemned the violence terming it as 'unacceptable'. He said the fire had been brought under control.
BREAKING: French embassy in Kinshasa 🇨🇩 'attacked and firebombed' but protesters were unable to enter, France's foreign ministry tells CNN.
Security forces defending the embassy fired shots, the ministry said, but embassy staff are now safe pic.twitter.com/4MWyAr2Ho7
â€" Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) January 28, 2025
The protests also spread to the United Nations building. Security forces were forced to use tear gas to disperse the crowds outside the US Embassy, where protesters had breached the construction site of a new embassy building.
The demonstrators accused the foreign powers of failing to intervene effectively as M23 forces intensified their assault on Goma.
In an escalation of the conflict, M23 rebels have in recent weeks captured key towns in the eastern region in renewed fights with the Congolese army and a coalition of armed groups including FDLR, a genocidal force linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
East African Community (EAC) leaders are set to convene an emergency summit on Wednesday, January 29 to address the escalating security crisis in the eastern Congo.
Kenya's President William Ruto, who also serves as the EAC Chairperson, confirmed the summit on Monday during a high-level retreat on African Union (AU) institutional reforms.
'We have agreed under the framework of the East African Community to convene an urgent extraordinary meeting and summit on the situation in Eastern DRC on Wednesday,' said President Ruto, who also serves as the EAC Chairperson.
'The situation in Eastern DRC now demands our collective focus. And as the chair of the East African Community, I will be convening this meeting.'
M23 asserts that its fight is centred on defending the Tutsi minority in eastern DRC, who have faced decades of marginalization and persecution. Peace processes proposed to mediate the dispute in Luanda, Angola, and Nairobi, Kenya, have previously faced challenges, as the Congolese government opposes the inclusion of the group in the talks.
President Ruto emphasized that a military solution is not viable, advocating instead for dialogue and engagement with all stakeholders to find the root cause of the problem.
'Engagement, dialogue, consultations is the only viable way out of the situation in DRC,' he said. 'A direct engagement with M23 and all the other stakeholders in the theatre in Eastern DRC is a necessity.'
Wycliffe Nyamasege
