Joseph Kabila is visiting the eastern city of Goma, which has been seized by rebels, after he was stripped of immunity.

Former President Joseph Kabila has returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just days after he lost his immunity amid accusations he has helped armed rebels fighting in the eastern DRC, according to the Reuters and AFP news agencies.

Kabila, on Thursday, was visiting the eastern city of Goma, which had been seized by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia along with several other areas in the resource-rich east of the country earlier this year.

A team of AFP journalists saw Kabila meet local religious figures in the presence of M23’s spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, without giving a statement.

Citing three unidentified sources close to Kabila, Reuters also said the ex-president held talks with locals in Goma.

The visit comes despite the former president facing the possibility of a treason trial over his alleged support for M23.

Earlier this month, the DRC Senate voted to lift Kabila’s immunity, paving the way for him to be prosecuted.

The ex-president, who has been in self-imposed exile since 2023, denies the allegations and has slammed the charges against him as “arbitrary decisions with disconcerting levity”.

On Thursday, a member of Kabila’s entourage told AFP that though no formal alliance existed between his party and M23, both shared the “same goal” of ending the rule of President Felix Tshisekedi.

The United Nations and the DRC’s government say Rwanda has supported the M23 with arms and troops – an accusation the neighbouring country denies.

The renewed violence has raised fears of igniting a full-blown conflict, akin to the wars that the DRC endured in the late 1990s, involving several African countries, which killed millions of people.

The current fighting has already displaced about 700,000 people this year, according to the UN.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International accused M23 of committing abuses against civilians in areas under its control, “including torture, killings and enforced disappearances”.

“These acts violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes,” the group said in a statement.

M23 says its goal is to protect ethnic minorities against the government in Kinshasa.

Source:

Al Jazeera and news agencies