It’s 100% official that M23 rebels have control of the city of Goma. They have just made a victory lap down the main street of town.

They took the main border post to Rwanda a few hours ago without firing a shot, and also have control of the airport (although reports on this vary – one UN contact reports that the UN has control but is surrounded by M23). Our park plane was moved to Goma earlier this month for security reasons and we were unable to get it out when it became clear that Goma was now the real security risk. We don’t have confirmation yet if it survived the attack, which we’ve heard was intense and included a major fuel tank hit.

At this time, we can still say that our staff is safe at both Rumangabo park headquarters and Goma, but the security risks are far from over, and the army may still try to take the city back.

Thank you all for your support through this very difficult time.