Panic spread in Goma on Thursday, with M23 rebels closing in on the city in eastern Congo while fighting the Congolese army. Bombs were heard going off in the distant suburbs and hundreds of wounded civilians were brought to the main hospital from nearby towns and villages.
The rebel group has made significant progress in recent weeks, closing in on GOMA, which is home to about two million people and a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.
The M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda, in a decades-long conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
More than seven million people have been displaced by the fighting. Earlier this month, the M23 captured the towns of Minova, Catale and Masisi, west of Goma.
“The people of Goma have suffered greatly, like other Congolese,” Lawrence Kanuka said.
M23 seized GOMA in 2012 and controlled it for over a week.
As news of the fighting spread, schools in Goma sent students home Thursday morning.
“We were told that the enemy wanted to enter the city. That’s why we were told to go home,” said Hassan Kambal, a 19-year-old high school student. “We’re constantly waiting for bombs.”
Rwanda was accused of supporting the rebels
Congo, US and UN experts accuse Rwanda of supporting the M23, which is mainly composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago.
Rwanda’s government denies the claim, but last year admitted it had troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to protect its security, citing a build-up of Congolese troops near the border. UN experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan troops in Congo.
On Wednesday, Congo’s Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya told French broadcaster France 24 that war with Rwanda is “an option to consider.”
Congolese authorities on Thursday claimed that the army pushed back an attack by the “Rwandan army” on Saki, a town just 23 kilometers from Goma. The Associated Press was unable to verify whether the Rwandan army participated in the attack.
The situation in Saki remains unclear, with some residents claiming that rebels entered the city and captured it.
“Residents are in a state of panic. The M23 now controls large parts of the city,” said Leopold Moisha, head of the civil society of the Saki district.
The US Embassy in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, warned in a notice on Thursday of “an increase in the intensity of armed conflict near Saki” and advised US citizens in North Kivu Province, which includes Goma, to be on alert in case they need to leave their homes in Short notice.
The UK also issued a travel advisory that said the M23 was now taking over for them and urged British citizens to leave Goma while the roads remain open.
The hospital expanded to the limit
Many Saki residents have joined more than 178,000 people who have fled the advancing M23 in the last two weeks.
CBCA Ndosho Hospital in Goma was stretched to the limit, with hundreds of newly injured people on Thursday.
Thousands fled the fighting by boat on Wednesday, making their way north across Lake Kivu and spilling out of crowded wooden boats in Goma, some with bundles of their belongings tied around their foreheads.
Nyima Matondo said she ran for it during the night, when the first explosions started going off. He recounted seeing people around her torn into pieces and killed.
“We escaped, but unfortunately” others did not, Matondo said.
Mariam Nasebo, who fled for her three children, was in tears – one of her children had lost a leg, blown away in the relentless bombardment.
“When I continued to flee, another bomb fell in front of me, hitting my child,” she said, crying.
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