M23 supported in Rwanda strengthens its control over Drc’s Gomama | News of the United Nations

M23 rebels supported by M23 strained Their adherent to Goma, the largest city in the eastern democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), signaling a big blow to the congole army and a serious escalation in many years of conflict in which hundreds of people killed and millions of displaced people saw.

March 23 (M23) Fighters entered Goma on Sunday claimed that she took control of the city a day later. Three days of conflict between the Congolian Armed Forces and the M23 rebels supported in Rwanda killed more than 100 people and wounded nearly 1,000 people in the crowd.

On Wednesday, while the fight in the city was very easier, occasional shooting continued in the northern areas of Gom, including Katoya, Mabang, Marengo, Kibwe and Turning, where the situation “remains tense”, according to the local media.

In the post on X, Bertrand Bisimwa, head of the political wing of M23, said the group fighters in the process of bringing “the last pockets of uncertainty [in Goma] … under control. “

“Our army works hard to guarantee complete security, complete tranquility and ultimate peace, as is the case for all their compatriots living in the liberated zones,” Bisimwa said.

As the residents of Gom were coming out of their homes on Wednesday, they saw that the M23 armed groups, and the troops of Rwanda seized the airport and controlled most of the city center and fourth.

“After a few days of difficult fighting, there is no sound sound of the shooting and streets in the city center that are usually full of cars during a rush, and the hectic markets are relatively empty,” said Malcolm Webb Al Jazeera, reporting from Kenya, citing the residents of Goma.

In an interview with the AFP news agency, Regional Ambassador Rwanda Vincent Kareg said the armed group would not stop their offensive on Gom.

“They [M23] It will continue in the southern Kiva, because Goma cannot be the end alone, unless he gets good dialogue between them and negotiating with the Government in Kinshasi, which I doubt. “

He added that this “possible” M23 fighters could press outside the Eastern DRC, because the “forces and military capabilities” were “concentrated in Goma”.

Five diplomatic and security sources told the Reuters news agency that the M23 fighters progressed south to Bukavu, the capital of the South Kivo Province, on Wednesday.

The report cannot be checked independently.

Humanitarian crisis

Several international aid groups raised an alarm over humanitarian situation In the Congo’s city, with the United Nations alerted to potentially mass displacement, serious food shortages, overloaded hospitals and disease epidemic.

Doctors without border (Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) said in a statement that his team still heals the influx of wounded at Kyeshero Hospital.

“At Kyeshero Hospital, the bullet broke through the roof of the operating theater during surgery,” said Virginie Napolitano, Emergency Coordinator for MSF North Kivu.

“Several of our supplies of equipment and medicines have been robbed, threatening our medical attention inside and outside Gom. The armed robbery also influenced our colleagues in the crowd. One of them wounded shootings in his home during the attack. “

The Red Cross International Committee (ICRC) also expressed alarm about the “devastating” impact on civilian fighting in the UI around Gom.

“We get a large number of calls from injured and wounded people who feel lost and abandoned. Humanitarian workers must have a safe approach to meet the most urgent needs of people, such as food, health care, electricity and safe drinking water, “said Francois Monthillon, ICRC Delegation Head law.

The spokeswoman for the Food Shelley Thakral World Program said that “depending on the duration of violence, food supply to the city could be seriously disturbed.”

M23 is one of the hundreds of armed groups operating in the Eastern DRC. DRC, UN and several other countries have accused Rwanda of supporting the group, which nurses.

The group consists of Tutsa Borac and claims that he is struggling for the rights of the DRC minority rights. It was created in 2012 after a group from the DRC Armed Forces (Fardc) fell apart, complaining about poor treatment.

In 2012, M23 captured Goma and controlled it about a week before surrendering after setting international pressure on Rwanda, including the suspension of the Assistance of the United States and the United Kingdom.

However, DC faced an increase in violence of M23 2022. The group has since progressed in the crowd, capturing the territory in battles with the Congolent Army and two peacekeeping missions: UN -AU DRC (Monusco) mission and the South African Development Community (USA) Mission to DRC.

DRC and the UN chief of the peacekeeping mission claim that the troops of Rwanda are active in the crowd, supporting the M23. But Rwanda said he was defending himself against the threat of Congol’s militia, and that he was directly addressing whether his troops had crossed the border.

Growing calls to interrupt fire

US and European countries have called for a ceasefire, while some countries, including Belgium, have also issued tips for traveling from DRC. The UN urged Rwanda to stop supporting M23.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with President Rwanda Paul Kagame and “called for a direct interruption” in the region.

Kagama admitted “the need to ensure the interruption of fire in the Eastern Drc -ui solves the root causes of the conflict once and for all.”

The President of Drc Felix Tshiseeked, however, will not attend an emergency virtual meeting with Kagama, which was scheduled for Wednesday, according to the Congolese State Media.

He is expected to turn to the state on Wednesday, in his first public statement since M23 entered Gom, according to the RTC State Television Program.

Al Jazeera Webb said the situation would remain difficult for the citizens of Gom until the fighting completely stopped.

“Thousands of people have crossed in Gisenya, a neighboring town in neighboring Rwanda over the last few days. Many others have remained in the crowd,” he said.

He noted that the current was excluded at least five days and the internet was also cut off in most places.

“Certainly for many people … times are very difficult,” he added.

The International Crisis Group (ICG), a global research center with the aim of resolving the deadly conflict, also published a statement of violence in Eastern DRC, saying that negotiations are desperate to stop the expansion of bloodshed.

“Left unannounced, fighting could expand all over the large lake region, remembering the horrors in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when millions died in the middle of the war in several countries in Congo,” it said.

ICG also suggested that you are possible to withdraw from the edge, East African leaders to propose compromise: M23 withdraws from Gom and “alternative African forces, perhaps mandates from the Eastern African community, [takes] Administrative control of the city ”during negotiations.