AA/ Goma (RDC)/ Grady Katsuva
This January 26, the city of Goma, capital of the province of North Kivu, is plunged into a wave of panic while the fights between the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the rebels of the M23 are dangerously closer .
Since the early hours of this Sunday, the inhabitants of Goma have fled en masse to the center of the city to escape the fighting. The districts to the north, such as Majengo, Buhene and Turunga, were particularly affected by the heavy and light detonations that have been heard since the night.
According to recent reports, the Congolese army indicated that the insurgents tried to advance north of the city, trying to cross by terminals 13 and 12, near the airport, which exacerbated tensions in the region.
This situation led to a massive displacement of the inhabitants who left their houses to take shelter. Goma hospitals are overwhelmed by the influx of wounded, despite the aid provided by humanitarian actors.
This new wave of trips still aggravates an already extremely precarious situation in the region. Populations that had found a temporary refuge in displaced sites after escaping previous violence are now forced to flee again, which amplifies their vulnerability and suffering.
The Congolese army assured that the rebels of the M23 had been postponed during an attempted bypass, but the situation remains unstable, creating a climate of fear and uncertainty among the population.
The MONUSCO peacekeepers, the United Nations Mission in the DRC, claim, for their part, that they maintain their positions alongside the FARDC in order to postpone M23 and protect civilians.
-The March 23 Movement (M23) was created in 2012 by dissident soldiers from the Congolese army. After a brief rise in power, he was defeated in 2013 by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), supported by the peacekeepers of Monusco. However, the M23 resumed arms in 2022, seizing several localities in the province of North Kivu, located on the border of Rwanda and Uganda.
Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of actively supporting M23 to access the mineral wealth of the region. These accusations are supported by reports from UN agency, which point to Rwandan military support for the rebellious movement. For the DRC, the M23 is a “terrorist” group and any form of negotiation is categorically rejected.
Rwanda refutes these allegations, saying that the M23 is a Congolese movement led by Congolese, although its members speak Kinyarwanda, the Rwandan language. Kigali also rejects the conclusions of the UN reports and recalls having disarmed the rebels of the M23 who had taken refuge on his soil in 2012-2013, before putting their arsenal to the Congolese authorities.
For Kigali, “the question of the M23 is a security threat to Rwanda”. “The DRC, because of the permanent assimilation of the M23 in Rwanda, built a large military coalition with Burundian soldiers, with European mercenaries, Wazalendo militiamen and FDLR genocidaires (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda, editor’s note)” , had supported the Rwandan Foreign Minister, Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe, in an interview with Africa 24.
These alliances, according to Nduhungirehe, are part of a strategy aimed at overthrowing the Rwandan government.
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