A new wave of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo - rebels grouped under the AFC alliance report capturing the city of Goma, the largest in the east of the country near the border with Rwanda, and advancing further inland. In addition to hundreds of reported civilian casualties, at least 13 UN peacekeepers have also died. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes. According to the United Nations, it is Rwanda that is supporting the rebels through the armed wing of the M23 alliance, which is on the UN and US sanctions list.
Picture: MONUSCO Blue Helmets in the Democratic Republic of Congo at positions fighting against M23 rebels | OSN
After several years of relative calm, the brutal struggle for power over a strategic area has returned to eastern Congo. Goma, the largest city of nearly 700,000 in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has experienced tribal violence for over 30 years, and has now flared up again following the advance of rebels from the Congo River Alliance (AFC), whose military arm, the 23 March Movement, shortened to M23, launched an offensive against government troops backed by UN peacekeepers. The city with an international airport at the crossroads between several Central African states on the shores of Lake Kivu, which is also rich in minerals including gold, tin or coltan used in the production of electronics, has become the scene of fierce fighting. Gunfire and explosions can be heard in the streets, lined with charred and burnt-out military and civilian vehicles, including those wearing blue helmets. At least 500,000 people have already fled the area in January alone, with hundreds of civilian casualties reported and more than a thousand more wounded being cared for by hospitals and the Red Cross. The M23 is on UN and US sanctions lists because of its systematic oppression of civilians.
#Congo (#DRC) 🇨🇩: "March 23 Movement" (#M23) has captured the city of #Goma, capital of the North Kivu.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, established in 1999, also reports casualties. According to its officials, 13 members have already died in fighting with the rebels - 9 from South Africa, 3 from Malawi and one soldier from Uruguay. "Despite appeals by member states during the 26 January Security Council meeting, M23 forces with the Rwandan army launched an attack on Goma using heavy direct and indirect fire," Vivian van de Perre, deputy commander of the UN peacekeeping mission, said in a statement, also referring to artillery salvos by the rebels and calling on the international community for immediate and coordinated assistance.
"Despite the significant challenges, @MONUSCO continues to play a vital role in this crisis in the eastern #DRCongo, and has proven to be a beacon for myriad
vulnerable groups seeking protection." - Vivian van de Perre tells the UN Security Council briefing from Goma pic.twitter.com/zmbByjftmv
"These attacks have resulted in numerous civilian casualties, further displacements and considerable trauma among the population. (...) MONUSCO bases are not able to accommodate such a large number of Congolese soldiers who have surrendered, nor civilians seeking refuge.Our bases are not safe: twice in the last three days they have been hit by mortar fire, as well as numerous shootings. The police station set up in the Jambar camp has been destroyed and burned," the UN representative in the country added with an urgent appeal.
The Congolese government, with the support of the roughly 15,000-strong United Nations mission, is not giving up the fight for the eastern part of the country and claims to still hold part of Goma and the surrounding area. However, the rebels have the aforementioned strong support in neighbouring Rwanda. According to the UN, around 4 000 members of the Rwandan army are fighting alongside the M23. The M23 is led by ethnic Tutsis, who say they have had to take up arms to protect the rights of a minority group that is under-represented in the Republic of Congo and, in particular, in Rwanda. The reasons for the current violence thus go back to the Rwandan genocide, when Hutu radicals massacred one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994.Over the years, Tutsis have then been given the opportunity to sit in the Rwandan government and directly influence issues they perceive as still pressing. The bone of contention is, among other things, a section of the Hutu perpetrators of the genocide who fled to the Congo after the atrocities. The M23 group had already committed a similar rebellion in 2012, and even then was accused of committing war crimes and human rights violations. However, it later reached a deal with the Congolese government and was integrated into the regular army in exchange for a promise that the rights of Tutsis in Congo would be honoured and respected. But four years ago, the militant group took up arms again, claiming that the country's promises had been broken.
In response, the Congolese government, based in Kinshasa on the far western end of the country, cut off official diplomatic relations with Rwanda, accusing the neighbouring state of supplying both arms and rebel soldiers. But crisis talks between the two governments are ongoing. A spokesman for the Rwandan government did not deny or confirm support for M23 when asked by US CNN. Several European countries have already withdrawn their representatives from Congo, including former colonial ruler France. Its embassy, as well as several others, has been the target of an angry mob that turned out in the capital to protest about the security situation and the failure to quell the rebellion. The Rwandan embassy was ransacked.
#DRCongo 🇨🇩: rioters have broken into the Rwandan embassy in #Kinshasa and are looting the building.
The #UN has repeatedly confirmed that thousands of Rwandan soldiers are supporting #M23 and Congo is in fact dealing with an invasion from #Rwanda. pic.twitter.com/y77jeLnJWv
The UN believes that the situation cannot be resolved by military intervention and therefore calls for the resumption of the peace negotiation process under the auspices of the Angolan government with the aim of de-escalating the conflict and averting a third war in Congo. "To end the suffering in Goma, the protection of civilians and the pursuit of a peaceful solution must be a priority," stressed Vivian van de Perre, MONUSCO's Deputy Head of Mission.
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