DR Congo: At least 3000 killed amid fears of widening conflict

By Linda Bordoni

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who captured Goma, a major city in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province, are seeking to reassure its over 2 million residents, holding a rally and promising safety and stability under their administration.

The rally on Thursday in Goma’s city stadium was part of the efforts by the rebel group to shore up public support amid growing international pressure after reports have emerged that almost 3,000 people were killed in clashes between the rebels and Congolese forces.

And despite the announcement of a unilateral ceasefire on humanitarian grounds after the capture of Goma last week, the rebels on Wednesday also took control of the mining town of Nyabibwe, not far from the capital of South Kivu, Bukavu.

Humanitarian crisis

The fighting has caused a severe humanitarian crisis which has also drawn the attention of the International Criminal Court. Apart from bodies reportedly left on the streets, the hospitals are overwhelmed and running out of supplies, while fears of the spread of diseases are fuelled by lack of electricity, clean water and ongoing outbreaks of mpox and cholera.

Congolese authorities have announced they will present a motion to the UN Human Rights Council seeking an investigation into what they call “mass violations” of rights in the city of Goma, which is also a hub for tens of thousands of people displaced by decades of unrest and violence in the region.

Patients wounded during the fighting are treated at Kyeshero Hospital in Goma   (ANSA)

Regional concerns

The M23 rebels, backed by some 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, are the most powerful of the more than 100 armed groups active in Congo’s east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology

On a diplomatic level, DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi will participate in a joint summit of Eastern and Southern African leaders in Tanzania on 7 and 8 February in the drive to find a solution to the conflict that has been festering for decades. Rwanda's President Paul Kagame was also expected to attend the summit.

Concerned and horrified by the increasing levels of violence, local peace initiatives are multiplying including one by the Catholic and Protestant churches in DRC who met with President Tshisekedi and presented a “crisis exit plan“.

The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches also called for dialogue and said the WCC stands ready with its member churches to support all efforts to resume dialogue at a political level.

Since the flare-up of fighting and the rebel advance in eastern DRC, Pope Francis has used every possible occasion to ask for prayers for the people of Goma and South Kivu and urge for a mediated solution to the violence.

(Source: AP and other agencies)