Thirteen South African soldiers, Malawites and Uruguayan, deployed in two regional and UN forces for support to the Congolese army, were killed in fighting with the M23 armed armed group in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Democratic Republic of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), authorities of the three countries announced on Saturday.
After the failure of a DRC-Rwanda mediation under the aegis of Angola, the M23 and 3000 to 4000 Rwandan soldiers, according to the UN, have quickly gained ground in recent weeks. They now almost completely surround the capital of the North Kivu province, Goma, which has a million inhabitants and at least as many displaced.
In a letter addressed by the Congolese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Rwanda Embassy in Kinshasa, dated Friday and transmitted to the press on Saturday evening by the Congolese presidency, the DRC informs “of the recall of the diplomats of the Embassy of the Republic of the Republic Democratic of Congo in Kigali with immediate effect ”, without further details.
Earlier in the day, the African Union (AU) urged the “immediate cessation” of the fighting and claimed “the strict observation of the cease-fire agreed between the parties”.
AFP
In eastern DRC rich in natural resources, conflicts have been linked for over thirty years. Half a dozen ceasefies and Trier have already been decreed and then broken in the region. The last cease-fire was signed at the end of July.
The European Union also called on the M23 to “stop its progress” and Rwanda to “withdraw immediately” in a declaration signed by the 27 member countries.
An emergency meeting of the Security Council on the DRC is scheduled for Monday.
On Thursday, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said he was “alarmed” by this revival of violence which could aggravate “the risk of a regional war”.
Already thirteen foreign soldiers, including three peacekeepers, have been killed in recent days in fighting against the M23.
Two South African soldiers and one Uruguayan from the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monusco) died, according to the armies of the two countries. The Monusco, which has some 15,000 soldiers, announced on Friday to be “actively engaged in intense fights” against the M23 with one of its elite units.
AFP
Seven other South Africans and three malawites engaged in Samirdc, the regional force of the Development Community of Southern Africa (SADC), were also killed, according to national armies. The Samirdc has been deployed in eastern DRC since 2023 and has 2,900 South African soldiers in particular.
-Smoke
The fighting on Saturday concentrated around Sake, cited in the territory of Masisi, located about twenty kilometers west of Goma, according to security sources.
On the road connecting the two localities, the carcass of a United Nations armored vehicle still smokes. He obviously received a projectile on the roof, found AFP journalists.
The enemy, posted on a nearby hill, target vehicles and combatants with heavy and precision weapons, said a local militiaman at the end of the anonymity.
In Goma, the businesses remained open all day in a semblance of normality regularly disturbed by detonations of artillery fire. In recent days, the fighting has sometimes held at less than ten kilometers.
AFP
The city had been briefly occupied at the end of 2012 by the M23 (“March 23 movement”), born that year and defeated militarily the following year.
Many civilians, who have often already fled several times, have once again left their home. The conflict, which has lasted for over three years, continues to worsen a chronic humanitarian crisis in the region.
According to the UN, 400,000 people have been moved by fighting since early January.
The NGO Human Rights Watch warned on Saturday against a situation which becomes “more and more dangerous” for civilians in Goma and mentioned “enormous humanitarian needs”.
The United Nations began to evacuate their “non -essential” staff from Goma. The United States, France and the United Kingdom have called on their nationals to leave the city as soon as possible, as long as the airport and the borders are open.
In December, a meeting between Congolese presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan Paul Kagame, as part of the peace process overseen by Angola, had been canceled for lack of agreement on the conditions of an agreement.
Turkey, very active on the African continent, proposed its mediation on Thursday.
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