World
Rebels Backed by Rwanda Close In on Major City in Congo
Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have surrounded the eastern city of Goma, in one of the sharpest escalations in years of a conflict that has pitted the Central African country against its neighbor Rwanda.
On Thursday, fighting raged between rebels from the Rwanda-backed M23 group and Congolese forces in the town of Saké, the last major army position before Goma, a provincial capital with more than 2 million people. On Tuesday, M23 captured Minova, a key town along one of Goma’s main supply routes.
Goma’s fall would be a major milestone for M23. The group captured the city and held it for two weeks in 2012, but withdrew after Rwanda came under intense international pressure to stop backing the militia. The United States and United Nations say Rwanda funds and directs the M23, charges that Rwanda has denied.
In late 2013, the Congolese Army and United Nations forces quickly defeated the rebel group, which lay dormant afterward for almost a decade.
M23 has since surged back, starting in late 2021, dealing the Congolese Army a series of defeats. At the same time, peace talks spearheaded by Angola, Congo’s southwestern neighbor, have stalled, and the fate of U.N. peacekeepers stationed in eastern Congo was until recently up in the air, with their mandate renewed in December for another year.
Goma has long been a refuge for more than a million civilians fleeing violence from M23 militiamen, Congolese forces and other armed groups in the region.
The rebels launched a major offensive in eastern Congo this year, and now the region is increasingly cut off. Rebels control the land immediately to Goma’s north and west. On its east lies the border with Rwanda. Its south is demarcated by Lake Kivu.
Rebels have also made gains in other parts of North and South Kivu provinces, which include two other major cities, Butembo and Bukavu. M23 has made the capture of Kavumu airport another main objective, according to U.N. intelligence. Government-allied troops have used the airport to support the Congolese armed forces.
Wounded civilians fleeing Saké by foot and on motorcycles arrived at a Goma hospital run by the International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday morning. Abdou Rahamane Sidibé, a senior surgeon with the group, said he and his colleagues have been treating twice as many civilians over the past few weeks than they did on average last year.
“There was too much bombing,” said Hawa Amisi, 52, who fled with only a thin mattress, a bottle of water and four of her children. Ms. Amisi, who had been separated from her husband in the fighting, said she saw dead bodies lying in the street as they fled.
Bruno Lemarquis, the United Nations’ top humanitarian official in Congo, said 2025 would be “a difficult year” because humanitarian needs are likely to rise, and funds are expected to dwindle.
The United States — traditionally Congo’s largest humanitarian donor — is expected to slash aid under the new Trump administration, humanitarian officials and experts say. “Even before the new U.S. administration came in, we were told that U.S. humanitarian support would be slashed by a third,” Mr. Lemarquis said.
The conflict in eastern Congo — an area about the size of Michigan — was once labeled Africa’s World War. It has been going on since the 1990s, and has involved dozens of armed groups, of which M23 is currently dominant.
Rwanda claims M23 is fighting for the rights of Congo’s Tutsis — the ethnic group targeted by extremists from Rwanda’s Hutu majority in the 1994 genocide in which more than 800,000 people were killed.
But many Congolese see the rebel advance as an invasion of their country by a foreign power.
Now equipped with high-tech weapons, according to a recent U.N. report, M23 rebels are trying to establish a long-term presence in the region. They train police, set up courts, collect taxes and issue birth certificates, experts say, and have assassinated several traditional leaders, replacing them with officials favorable to their cause.
Most observers say M23 wants land and Congo’s valuable rare minerals such as coltan, a metallic ore used to produce tantalum, which is in smartphones and laptops. Last April, M23 seized mines in Rubaya — one of the world’s biggest sources of coltan.
As the rebels have conquered more territory over the past few years, the violence has reached new heights.
Thousands of children have been killed, maimed and forced to become child soldiers. Serious injuries caused by heavy artillery have increased. Many of the victims are children.
Sexual violence has reached extreme levels. In 2023, Doctors Without Borders treated more than 25,000 survivors of sexual violence — the highest number ever recorded in the country. Numbers for the first half of 2024 were even higher.
More than 240,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes since the start of this year, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency, as M23 rebels have launched new offensives in the eastern regions of North Kivu province, where Goma sits, and South Kivu. They join 4.6 million people who were already displaced in Congo’s east.
Saikou Jammeh contributed reporting from Dakar, Senegal.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the U.S. prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies.
The price of U.S. crude oil increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel an hour after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 5.8% to $95.64 per barrel.
The market reaction followed more than two days of lifted hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Crude prices plunged more than 9% Friday after Iran said it would fully reopen the strait, which it effectively controls, to commercial traffic.
Tehran reversed that decision and fired on several vessels Saturday after President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. On Sunday, Trump said the U.S. attacked and forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that allegedly tried to get around the blockade. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond.
Sunday’s higher prices wiped out much of the declines seen Friday, signaling renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East.
The US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its eighth week, has created one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Countries in Asia and Europe that import much of their oil from the Gulf have felt the most impact of halted supplies and production cuts, although rapidly rising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are affecting businesses and consumers worldwide.
Asked when he thought U.S. motorists would again see gas cost less than $3 a gallon on average, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices at the pump might not go down that much until next year.
“But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down,” Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
The price of crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline — has fluctated dramatically since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and as Iran retaliated with airstrikes on other Gulf states. Crude traded at roughly $70 a barrel before the conflict, spiked to more than $119 at times, and previously closed Friday at $82.59 for U.S. oil and $90.38 for Brent.
Industry analysts have repeatedly warned that the longer the strait is closed, the worse prices could get.
A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz puts the fate of new talks to end the war into question.
Even if a lasting deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz emerges, analysts say it could take months for oil shipments to return to normal levels and for fuel prices to go down. Backed-up tanker traffic, shipowners concerned about another sudden escalation, and energy infrastructure damaged during the war are factors that could impede production and shipment volumes from returning to pre-war levels.
A gallon of regular gas cost an average of nearly $4.05 a gallon in the U.S. on Sunday, according to motor club federation AAA. That’s about 8 cents lower than a week ago, but far higher than $2.98 before the war.
Trump warns Iran it ‘can’t blackmail’ US with Hormuz closure
Fox News reports on heightened tensions in the Middle East as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reaffirms strict control over the Strait of Hormuz and fires on passing ships. President Donald Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, states the US naval blockade will remain in full force. White House correspondent Alex Hogan provides updates on the escalating diplomatic and military standoff.
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Hundreds of commercial tankers are stranded on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran shut the critical chokepoint on April 18, halting traffic and leaving crews trapped amid reports of gunfire and “traumatic experiences” on board.
The Strait of Hormuz is considered an international waterway under international law, through which ships have the right of transit passage, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making it a critical chokepoint for global energy markets, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Iranian gunboats opened fire on a tanker the same day, while a projectile struck a container vessel, damaging cargo.
STARMER AND MACRON ACCUSED OF ‘PLAYING AT BEING RELEVANT’ WITH STRAIT OF HORMUZ PLAN
U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that “U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports.” (CENTCOM)
Audio released by maritime monitoring group TankerTrackers appears to capture the moment a vessel and its crew came under fire while approaching the strait, including a distress call from a crew member.
“Sepah Navy! Motor tanker Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go… you are firing now. Let me turn back!” the crew member can be heard saying in the recording, according to TankerTrackers.
Iranian state media confirmed that shots were fired near vessels to force them to turn back, while the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India said the foreign secretary was deeply concerned.
Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line, told Fox News Digital that it had activated a crisis team as its crews remain stuck on board vessels in the region.
“We have been working from Friday afternoon until today with the entire crisis team to bring the vessels out — in vain, unfortunately,” said Nils Haupt, senior director of group communications at Hapag-Lloyd AG.
“These events can easily lead to traumatic experiences. There is also a significant risk from sea mines, which has made insuring vessels for passage through the Strait nearly impossible.”
LISA DAFTARI: HORMUZ WHIPLASH PROVES TEHRAN CAN’T HONOR ANY DEAL IT SIGNS
“The crews are well, but they are becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. It is very unfortunate that we could not leave today,” he added. “Many ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf.”
“Our six ships are anchored near the port of Dubai, and all crews hope for an improvement in the situation,” Haupt said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 18 that the strait would remain closed until the U.S. lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, warning ships not to move from anchorage or risk being treated as “enemy” collaborators.
Iran has previously argued that restrictions on its oil exports and shipping amount to “economic warfare,” framing actions in the Strait of Hormuz as a response to foreign pressure on its economy, according to statements from Iranian officials and state media in past incidents.
“Approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any violating vessel will be targeted,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
TRUMP ORDERS A BLOCKADE IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS TENSIONS WITH IRAN SOAR
Fishing boats dot the sea as cargo ships, in the background, sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo)
The United States imposed the blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait, with U.S. Central Command saying the measures are being enforced “impartially against all vessels.”
Hapag-Lloyd said its vessels have been stuck for weeks following the initial closure after the outbreak of war with Iran on Feb. 28.
“For us, it is critical that our vessels can pass through the strait soon,” Haupt said.
“We offer all crew members unlimited data so they can video call loved ones and access entertainment. Crews are strong, but after weeks on board there is growing monotony and frustration.”
“One crew experienced a fire on board from bomb fragments. Others have seen missiles or drones near their vessels,” he added.
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“They are resilient, but each additional day makes the situation more difficult, more monotonous, and more stressful.”
President Donald Trump said Iran had agreed not to close the strait again but after the closure, Trump called the situation “blackmail” and said the U.S. would not back down.
Shops and schools shut in northern Israel as residents protested a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon that took effect on April 16, saying “nothing was achieved”. Israeli officials say operations may continue, with forces still deployed inside southern Lebanon.
Published On 19 Apr 2026
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