Fighting between Congolese forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels has left at least 773 people dead in Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo. The rebels captured the city in a major escalation of a decade-long conflict, prompting a humanitarian crisis. While the military regained some villages, the rebels continue to advance, raising fears of further displacement and a breakdown of humanitarian aid delivery.
The Associated PressResidents walk by charred vehicles in Goma, Democratic republic of the Congo , Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.
“These figures remain provisional because the rebels asked the population to clean the streets of Goma. There should be mass graves and the Rwandans took care to evacuate theirs,” said Muyaya. M23 is the most potent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology. They are backed by around 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts, far more than in 2012, when they first captured Goma and held it for days in a conflict driven by ethnic grievances.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, meanwhile, said Friday that the M23 and Rwandan forces were about 60 kilometres north of South Kivu’s provincial capital of Bukavu, covering almost the same distance in the previous two days since they started advancing along Lake Kivu on the border with Rwanda. Lacroix said the rebels “seem to be moving quite fast,” and capturing an airport a few kilometers away “would be another really significant step.
The rebel advance has left in its wake extrajudicial killings and forced conscription of civilians, UN human rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence said Friday. “We have also documented summary executions of at least 12 people by M23” from Jan. 26-28, Laurence said, adding that the group has also occupied schools and hospitals in the province and are subjecting civilians to forced conscription and forced labor.
CONFLICT RWANDA CONGO HUMANITARIAN CRISIS M23 REBELS
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