At least two people were killed following a bomb explosion this Thursday, January 23, in the village of Turunga, in the Mudja group (Nyiragongo territory), in North Kivu. According to our sources, the bomb was dropped by elements of the M23/RDF coalition from the Kibumba front line where they clashed with the FARDC, supported by local fighters, known as “wazalendo”. The victims are members of a couple surprised by the explosion in their home.
“The bomb came from the Kibumba front line. The FARDC shelled the positions of M23 elements. This is how they too respond by dropping bombs. The first fell in the plot, located less than 300 meters from my home. There was a couple in the house. Directly, these two people died,” a resident near the place where the explosion occurred told ACTUALITE.CD.
Two other bombs fell near the Bushagara displaced persons camp but without causing material or human damage. These practices recall the modus operandi of this rebellion in 2012 with a view to creating psychosis and panic within the population, indicates Julien Paluku, then governor of North Kivu.
“We’ve been through times like these before. I urge you not to panic. Let us all stand behind our defense and security forces. It is therefore time for each of us to support our forces with everything we can have in terms of food. Whether it’s water, biscuits, sardines. Let’s do as we did in 2012. The Republic cannot whine all the time. It is true, the war will be long, the emotion is total but the Republic will not capitulate. The Republic never admits defeat in the face of the advance of a rebel, we must remain united behind our armed forces and I am convinced that the Republic will remain one and indivisible,” said Julien Paluku, in a message this Thursday.
Panicked, several displaced people emptied the camps of Bushagara, Kanyaruchinya and others and headed towards the city of Goma to take shelter from these bombings.
-Meanwhile, intense fighting has pitted elements of the M23/RDF coalition against the FARDC since early Thursday morning, supported by local “Wazalendo” fighters in Sake and its surroundings, about twenty km from Goma, in the territory of Masisi. According to our sources, the two camps are vying for control of the town of Sake, which was the last barrier for government forces before reaching the capital of North Kivu. Detonations of heavy weapons heard in the west of Goma cause widespread panic among residents and displaced people who head towards the city center. Schools have dismissed students and socio-economic activities are slowing down. However, there is confusion about who, between the FARDC and the M23, controls the city of Sake.
Faced with the deterioration of the security situation in Sake and its surroundings, the president of the urban coordination of the civil society forces of Goma, Mario Ngavho also calls on the inhabitants of the volcanic city not to give in to panic. He also invites them to resist and not to leave the city of Goma.
Jonathan Kombi, in Goma
