France, the United States and the United Kingdom call for their nationals to leave the city of Goma

The authorities of the three countries fear a risk of “rapid degradation” of the security situation linked to the conflict between the M23 armed armed group and the Congolese army.

It is one of the signs of the degradation of the situation in eastern DRC. The Embassies of the United States and France in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called on their nationals to leave Goma, a regional capital surrounded by fighting on Friday, January 24.

The authorities of the three countries call their nationals, in press releases published online or by messages sent directly by e-mail or SMS, to leave the city “As long as airports and borders are still open”. They fear a risk of “Fast degradation” of the security situation linked to the conflict between the M23 armed armed group and the Congolese army.

The United Nations Mission in the DRC (Monusco) said on Friday that the peacekeepers were “Engaged” In fights “Intense” against the armed group. “In the last 48 hours, the heavy artillery of the Monusco has carried out missions of shooting against the positions of the M23”she said in a press release.

More than 400,000 people have been moved since the start of the year due to violence, the United Nations alerted on Friday. The UN says that an attack on Goma would be “catastrophic”. The city is almost surrounded by the M23, an armed group supported by Rwanda, which has continued to gain ground in the east of the country since its resurgence in 2021.

After the failure of a mediation DRC-Rwanda under the aegis of Angola, the M23 has regained ground in recent weeks and the fighting has intensified around the provincial capital of North Kivu, which has a million D 'inhabitants and at least as many displaced. The city had been briefly occupied by the M23 at the end of 2012.