The peacekeepers are “committed” in fights “intense”Friday January 24, against the armed group M23 (“March 23 Movement”), supported by Rwanda, according to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). “The Rapid Reaction Forces (QRF), an elite unit of MONUSCO, were actively engaged in intense combat”et “during the last 48 hours, MONUSCO heavy artillery has carried out firing missions against M23 positions”she announced in a press release.
Clashes continued throughout the day Friday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between the anti-government armed group M23 and the Congolese army. After the failure of DRC-Rwanda mediation, under the aegis of Angola, the M23 has regained ground in recent weeks and fighting has intensified around the provincial capital of North Kivu, Goma, which has a million inhabitants and at least as many displaced people.
In the capital of the DRC, Kinshasa, the Congolese President, Félix Tshisekedi, chaired a defense council in the afternoon, after holding a crisis meeting the day before. The DRC has also requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, relayed by France, we learned from diplomatic sources on Friday, but no date has yet been set. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday ” alarm ” by a resurgence of violence which could worsen “the risk of a regional war”.
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Friday, the American embassy in the DRC called on its nationals, in a press release on “get to a safer place [que Goma] as long as airports and borders are still open”. The British Foreign Office did the same on its website, as did the French embassy in the DRC, by emails and SMS, pointing out a “risk of rapid degradation”.
400,000 displaced since the beginning of January
All day long, clashes took place only about twenty kilometers from Goma, a city at the heart of the violence that has shaken the east of the DRC for 30 years, according to military and security sources. Episodic mobile network, internet and electricity outages affected the city. Goma was briefly occupied at the end of 2012 by the M23, born that year. For several days, M23 fighters posted in the hills around the city have been firing shells, according to soldiers posted in the area. Congolese forces say they are responding with multiple rocket launchers.
-Around Sake, about twenty kilometers west of Goma, fighting raged Thursday, and the M23 is still present, according to a military source. On Friday, five peacekeepers were injured, MONUSCO announced in its press release, adding that four others were slightly injured on Thursday. The nine soldiers affected “currently receiving medical care”specifies the message.
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Many civilians, who have often already fled several times, have once again left their homes. According to the UN, 400,000 people have been displaced by fighting since the start of January. “The number of trips is now over 400,000 people this year alone, almost double the number reported last week”declared a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Matthew Saltmarsh, during a press briefing in Geneva (Switzerland). The conflict between M23 fighters, supported by 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers deployed in the east according to the UN, and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) has lasted for more than three years and has worsened a chronic humanitarian crisis in the region.
The DRC accuses Rwanda of wanting to take control of the riches of eastern Congo, which Kigali disputes. A meeting between the Congolese presidents, Félix Tshisekedi, and Rwandan presidents, Paul Kagame, as part of the peace process led by Angola, designated mediator by the African Union, was canceled in December for lack of agreement on the conditions of 'an agreement. Turkey, very active on the African continent, proposed Thursday to conduct DRC-Rwanda mediation. Half a dozen ceasefires and truces have already been declared in the region, but have been broken. The last ceasefire was signed at the end of July.
