MINOVA, Democratic Republic of Congo (AFP) — Wedged between Lake Kivu and the Masisi mountains in eastern DRC, the town of Minova has been severed from the rest of the country by fighting between rebels and government troops and collapsed infrastructure.

Minova has effectively become an island since M23 (“March 23”) rebels cornered several units of the DRC army into Minova Bay in February, with all their land supply routes cut off.

Small wooden boats and emergency helicopters are now the only means of escape for the 65,000 residents and 300,000 displaced people sheltering in Minova.

The town has no power or supply lines, according to Jean-Paul Kanku, a governing chief for Minova and 12 surrounding villages.

“At the beginning of February, the M23 sabotaged the medium-voltage power line.”

The telephone aerials, powered by generators, “have run out of fuel” because supplies are no longer accessible being too close to combat zones, Kanku said, adding “all that’s left is (the network) Airtel, and even that gets through very badly.”

In recent weeks, the Tutsi-led M23 have been extending control north of Goma, the largely isolated capital of North Kivu province, and beyond Minova — seizing towns and Congolese army bases.

In mid-2022 the rebels, accused by DR Congo, the United Nations and Western countries of being supported by the Rwandan army, began to implement their administration in the vast swathes of the North Kivu region that they had captured since resuming arms in 2021 after eight years of dormancy.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, UN peacekeepers and so-called wazalendo (patriot) armed fighters have tried in vain to recapture even the tiniest of villages.

Now Congolese and Burundian soldiers and militiamen roam around Minova town center with weapons slung across their shoulders.

An administrative official from the town, speaking to Agence France-Presse under the condition of anonymity, denounced the recruitment of “children 12 and 13 years” for the army.

Above the town’s main avenue, hundreds of hungry and displaced people have crammed into Pastor Euclide Bagalwa’s church.