After eight years of dormancy, the mostly Tutsi M23 rebellion took up arms again in late 2021, seizing large swathes of North Kivu province, some forty kilometers (25 miles) northwest of its provincial capital Goma.
Local residents on Tuesday told French media outlet, Agence France-Presse, AFP, that the rebels had entered the town center after a morning of fighting.
Local officials confirmed M23’s presence on Wednesday.
"Rubaya has been under M23 control since yesterday evening. We left the town yesterday afternoon," a police official said while speaking on condition of anonymity.
However, Lieutenant Colonel Guillaume Njike, the DRC's army spokesperson for operations against M23 said authorities could not confirm if the rebels had seized the town.
"We are in the process of cross-checking since yesterday (Wednesday) whether or not it has fallen to the hands of the M23 rebels," Njike told Reuters media.
Willy Ngoma, M23's military spokesperson said Rubaya was under their control after fighting other armed groups in the region.
Ngoma's sentiments were confirmed by a spokesperson for Wazalendo, or patriots, an armed group fighting M23 alongside the nation’s military.
"The M23 is in Rubaya," he said, adding that "the enemy killed civilians, how many is not known."
M23 "recovered parcels of cobalt" from artisanal miners, the Wazalendo spokesperson said.
DRC’s eastern region, where Rubaya is located, is mineral rich and has experienced insecurity worsened since the return of the M23 in March 2022.
Rubaya holds rich deposits of tantalum, which is extracted from coltan. This 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.
A health center official said in the latest clash between M23 and the military, three civilians died, including one woman and two men.
Bullets wounded seven people including one child, the health official said, adding, around ten fighters were also killed.
Witnesses said the rebels asked residents to go about their business as normal and to hand over any weapons they may have.
By Wednesday Rubaya was calm and "we continued our activities," a shopkeeper said.
Authorities in the DRC, U.N. officials and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting the M23. Kigali vehemently denies the allegations.
Bruno Lemarquis, the U.N.’s DRC humanitarian coordinator says the rebel group "continues to advance towards the north of North Kivu but also towards (the neighboring province of) South Kivu."
Speaking to Reuters by telephone, Clovis Mafare, a youth leader in Rubaya said his province is encircled by the rebels.
"There is a large displacement of the population because the clashes are intense," Mafare said, adding that Rubaya’s mining quarries were not occupied.
Mafare’s town was previously under the control of Wazalendo. The United Nations said in December the pro-government military-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 DRC before being smuggled out through neighboring Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.
DRC is currently pushing Apple, a U.S. multinational tech company known for its products like the iPhone and laptops, 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 DRC or an adjoining country.
Information for this article was sourced from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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