The M23 is now moving towards the town of Uvira near the Burundi border on the northwestern tip of Lake Tanganyika, the main exit route for fleeing Congolese soldiers. Around 42,000 people have fled the conflict and crossed into Burundi in the past two weeks, the United Nations said Friday.

M23 rebels captured Bukavu, the capital of the eastern DRC’s South Kivu province, on 16 February with little resistance from government forces. Bukavu is a commercial hub of about 1.3 million people, the fall of which is another significant blow to Kinshasa’s authority at home and in the region.