Rwandan-backed rebel militias have announced the capture of the city of Goma in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a major victory for the group and one of the most important escalations in the conflict between the two countries in many years.
The militia, known as M23, briefly occupied Goma once in 2012, before being defeated and lying dormant for almost a decade. Now they have returned rowdy, aiming to occupy the area for a long time and exploit its valuable rare minerals, according to UN experts.
This time, M23 appears to be in a strong position to defend Goma, a city made up primarily of people who have terrorized their homes and now have to live under the rules of one of the armed groups they fled. It looks like
M23 spokesperson announcement There was no confirmation that the “liberation of the city of Goma” in X’s post had yet to be completed, with Congolese soldiers handing over their arms to the United Nations before 3 a.m. and gathering in the stadium. There were scattered reports of shootings in the city Monday morning.
The conflict in eastern Congo, an area about the size of Michigan, was once labeled Africa’s World War I. It has been going on since the 1990s and involves dozens of armed groups, with M23 currently dominant.
According to the United Nations and the United States, the rebels plan to occupy and exploit the region in the long term. Rwanda denies these charges.
Rebel advances in Goma, which began with attacks in the area launched this month, have rapidly escalated over the past three weeks, prompting people to flee the city.
Thousands of people arrived in Goma from areas north of the city on Sunday morning. Some belongings were able to grab a piece of cloth tied around the forehead, a piece of cloth that would last only a few days. Many had already been evacuated, fleeing bombs that had fallen near the camp. Others left the village caught in the crossfire between M23 and the Congolese army.
The camp on the outskirts of Goma, which had hosted more than 300,000 people, was completely emptied within hours, the United Nations said.
On Friday, Congo’s military spokesman said the military governor of North Kivu, whose capital is Goma, was fatally wounded on the battlefield. The circumstances of his death remained vague, but a spokesman said the governor, General Peter Chirimwami, died as he was evacuated to Congo’s capital Kinshasa.
On Saturday, the UN peacekeeping mission in Goma evacuated many of its staff from the city and put them on buses to the airport with plans to fly to Entebbe in neighboring Uganda.
In 2012, Rwanda came under intense international pressure to end support for M23, resulting in the militia’s defeat the following year. But it’s unclear whether such pressure can be summoned again, experts said. Rwanda has since developed relationships with Western countries, making it less dependent on aid.
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Sunday, the United States and other members condemned Rwanda’s actions but stopped short of calling for sanctions. Bintu Keita, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, told the conference that three peacekeepers were killed while trying to protect Goma and the nearby town of Salake from the M23 advance. She also said the rebels had closed off space in Goma.
“In other words, we are trapped,” she said.
As the rebels advanced in Goma, the already dire humanitarian situation worsened. More than 400,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of this year, according to the United Nations refugee agencywhere Goma is located and South Kivu, as the M23 rebels attacked new areas in North Kivu province. They joined the 4.6 million people already evacuated in the east of Congo.
Still, people often poured sesame with long columns.
Some pushed wheelbarrows with some rescued belongings. Some carried bicycles and mattresses on their backs. Many of them suffered life-threatening injuries.
Miriam Fabiel, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Goma, said on Friday that more than 100 people had arrived within 24 hours at the hospital where she worked the day before. In a month.
“They come from everywhere,” she said. “They come from all sides.”
Fabiel described medical staff treating patients with mortar or rap shot wounds and said the number of seriously injured minors has increased significantly. She called for people to use heavy artillery to reduce attacks and said so many people were arriving with head wounds and chest trauma that hospitals were running out of beds and putting patients on mattresses in parking lots. I said I had to put it down.
Throughout Goma, schools had become shelters for displaced people. The family saved up what they could so they didn’t have to venture out.
Many of those who fled, knowing it was in sight of the rebels, knew they had no other choice.
When the city fell into M23’s hands, they hid wherever they could, many of them hungry, cold, or badly injured. Some slept on the streets, others in hospitals.
Solange Safi Ndakwinja was trying to care for her three daughters who were badly injured by a bomb that exploded at an army checkpoint.
“My hope is that God will help us,” Ndakwinja said. “As for the rest, we don’t know what will happen.”
Elien Pelletier Senegal, Dakar, and Declan Walsh From Nairobi, Kenya.
