KIGALI, Rwanda. On Thursday, two explosives burst during an M23 rebel rally in Bukavu, the city controlled by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 11 and wounded 65. According to Bertrand Bisimwa, the head of M23’s political wing, the blasts at Bukavu’s Independence Square occurred immediately after Corneille Nangaa, the coordinator of the Alliance Fleuve, a rebel alliance that includes M23 fighters, addressed the audience. “The attack in Bukavu killed 11 people, including a woman,” Corneille Nangaa, coordinator of the organization Fleuve rebel organization, told reporters in Bukavu. “65 people were injured, with six in critical condition.”

Nangaa stated that he and the “other leaders” fled uninjured. In a statement made by his office, Congo President Felix Tshisekedi condemned the incident as a “heinous terrorist act” and blamed it on “a foreign army illegally present on Congolese soil,” alluding to Rwanda’s troops. Tshisekedi expressed sadness after learning about the deaths of several compatriots as a result of explosions during a forced gathering in Bukavu, the seat of South Kivu province, according to the statement. However, the M23 blamed the explosives on government forces and extended “deep and sincere condolences to the population of Bukavu.” Since December, the M23 group has expanded its territorial authority in eastern Congo, taking over the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.

Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels and sending troops to eastern Congo as the new offensive began, a claim Kigali has frequently denied. Fighting in eastern Congo has already killed over 7,000 people this year, Congo’s Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka told the UN Human Rights Council on Monday.