Two explosions at M23 meeting in east DR Congo city: AFP reporters

Street scene with people watching the flames of some burning tyres at the entrance of the Belgian embassy building in Kinshasa, DRC Congo, Tuesday 28 January 2025. [AFP]

Two explosions rocked a city in eastern DR Congo Thursday after a meeting of the M23 attended by one of the armed group's leaders Corneille Nangaa, AFP reporters saw.

Bukavu is one of two key cities in the turbulent region seized in recent weeks by anti-government M23 fighters who UN experts say are backed by Rwandan forces.

A first explosion caused panic, sending spectators fleeing, before a second explosion rang out.

Nangaa had left Independence Square where the meeting had taken place at the time of the explosions, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

The M23 took control of South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu over a week ago, after capturing Goma, the capital of North Kivu and the main city in the country's east, late last month.

The eastern DRC has been the scene of decades of relentless conflict but has been plunged into fresh turmoil as fighters from the M23 group seize swathes of territory in the two provinces.

The seizure of Bukavu and Goma gives a major foothold in the mineral-rich region to the group, which resurfaced in late 2021.