In Goma, the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, fears are growing of an imminent attack by a bloody rebel group whose resurgence has fueled diplomatic tensions in central Africa.

A predominantly Congolese Tutsi militia called the M23 has returned after years of dormancy and has seized large swaths of territory in troubled North Kivu province.

After a series of victories over the army, the M23 fighters are only a few tens of kilometers from Goma, a million-people commercial center that was briefly captured a decade ago.

Militiamen were in control of Rugari, a settlement about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of the city, over the weekend, according to the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) violence monitor.

Many citizens now fear what may come next, and food prices are skyrocketing.

“My children refuse to go to school, they think it (the attack) could happen at any moment,” said Nsimire Foybe, a 58-year-old mother of eight, who sells potatoes and beans at lively Birere market in Goma sold.

She added that another vendor was so shocked to hear about the M23’s vow to conquer the city that she miscarried and was still in hospital.

The M23 captured Goma in 2012, a move that brought it worldwide prominence, but was repelled by a joint Congolese and UN offensive and sidelined.

The group took up arms again in late 2021, claiming that the DRC had failed, among other things, in a pledge to integrate them into the army.

In June it captured the strategic town of Bunagana, which lies on the border with Uganda.

Months of relative stasis have come to an end with the M23 capturing a number of settlements and a major army base, and dramatically expanding the territory under their command.

The militia have also tightened control of the highway leading out of Goma, which has pushed up the prices of staples like rice and flour in the city. Many people are afraid of running out of groceries.

“The situation is becoming untenable,” said Giramata Mwiza, a wholesaler in Birere, one of Goma’s largest markets.

The resurgence of the M23 has destabilized regional ties in central Africa, with the DRC accusing its smaller neighbor Rwanda of backing the militia.

Despite official denials from Kigali, an unpublished report for the United Nations submitted to AFP in August indicated Rwanda’s involvement in the M23.

The report added that the M23 plans to seize Goma to extort political concessions from the government in Kinshasa.

On Saturday, amid fresh M23 victories, the DRC decided to expel Rwanda’s ambassador.

Located at the foot of the active volcano Mount Nyiragongo, Goma is surrounded by rich, fertile soil.

Inside the city, residents are anxiously exchanging news about the front line, although the situation remains relatively calm.

Some have been cut off from loved ones, like motorcyclist Emmanuel Bahati, whose wife and children are stranded in Rutshuru, 70 kilometers to the north.

“We’re scared – they’re criminals,” Issa Ruchekere, another motorcyclist, said of the M23.

When the group invades the city, blood will flow, he prophesied.

“They all consider us FDLR,” he explained, referring to the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) — a notorious Hutu rebel movement involved in the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.

Kigali argues that the DRC is collaborating with the FDLR, which Kinshasa has denied.

Human Rights Watch said last month that the DRC army fought alongside several armed groups, including the FDLR, in recent clashes involving the M23.

Mwisha Dina, who lives in a western district of Goma, said he vividly remembered the day in 2012 when the M23 entered the city.

“We were under heavy fire all night and the next day. I don’t want to see those days again,” he said.

Thousands of people protested against Rwanda in Goma on Monday, demanding weapons to resist an attack on the city.

Fiston Ketha, 36, who attended the demonstration, said local residents were being targeted because “the rebels know the population is against them.”

Denise Kahambu, a cloth merchant in the north of the city, said she wasn’t afraid of being mugged.

“If they come, we will eradicate them,” she said.