Rwanda-backed rebels tell residents of a captured eastern Congolese city they are safe

GOMA, Congo — The Rwanda-backed rebels who captured a major city in eastern Congo sought to reassure its residents on Thursday, holding a rally at the city stadium and promising safety and stability in Goma under their administration as they try to shore up public support amid growing international pressure.

Goma, which the rebels captured last week with the support of troops from neighboring Rwanda, has been ''liberated and sanitized'' and different administrative heads have been appointed, Corneille Nangaa, the M23's political leader, told thousands gathered at the stadium.

''I ask you to sleep well because we bring you security; this is our priority,'' Nangaa said. ''Starting next week, the children return to school. Let all state agents return to their offices. The displaced people are returning to their homes.''

The rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts. They are the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups active in Congo's east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world's technology.

Unlike in 2012, when the rebels first captured Goma but held it for only a short time, analysts say the M23 is now eyeing political power and eager to show it can govern.

Africa's top public health body, meanwhile, sounded notes of alarm Thursday, saying that the rebellion had disrupted services at a high-security medical lab in Goma involved in the control and surveillance of infectious diseases such as Ebola.

The disruption at the National Institute of Biomedical Research lab underscores ''the need for the decentralization of laboratory capacity'' in the region, said Yap Boum II, a manager at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Boum, in an online briefing, said that collection of samples for illnesses such as mpox had been disrupted and that the rebellion has led to dozens of mpox patients fleeing from treatment centers, raising the risk of the disease spreading.

The rebels this week declared a unilateral ceasefire after capturing Goma as Congolese troops melted away and claimed they had stopped grabbing more land. However, on Wednesday they seized a town in the mineral-rich region that holds resources critical to much of the world's technology.

Congo's government has dismissed the ceasefire as ''false communication,'' and the United Nations has noted reports of heavy fighting with Congolese forces in other parts of the country's east.

The U.N. and aid groups have expressed concern about the safety of the displaced people in Goma. Before it was captured by the rebels, the city was a critical humanitarian hub that hosted many of the more than 6 million people displaced by conflict in the region.

One of those at the rally Thursday, Emmanuel Kakule, a Goma resident, said he is still worried about the situation in Goma.

''I came to listen to their project," the 26-year-old said. ''I don't know if I'm convinced. ... We're still afraid.''

Meanwhile, Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera, said that he's asked the commander of his country's peacekeepers in eastern Congo to begin preparations for their withdrawal.

Malawian troops are part of a regional peacekeeping force supporting Congolese army in the region. At least 3 Malawian troops and 14 South African soldiers — also part of the force — have been killed in the fighting.

Chakwera said on Wednesday that the withdrawal was ''to honor the declaration of a ceasefire" by the rebels and to pave the way for negotiations and a lasting peace. He did not give a timeframe for the Malawian troops' withdrawal.

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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria, and Kamale reported from Kinshasa, Congo. AP journalist Rodney Muhmuza in Kampala, Uganda contributed to this reporting.