Rebels enter outskirts of Goma and close the airport in the eastern Congo hub
GOMA, Congo (AP) — Congolese rebels and allied Rwandan forces entered the outskirts of Goma on Sunday and the airport in the key eastern city was no longer in use, the top U.N. official in the country said. Thousands fled the fighting that also killed at least 13 peacekeepers.
The Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group has made significant territorial gains along the border with Rwanda in recent weeks, closing in on Goma, the provincial capital of around 2 million and a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.
The U.N. special representative for Congo, Bintu Keita, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday that despite the support of international peacekeepers for the Congolese armed forces, M23 and Rwandan forces penetrated the Munigi quarter on the outskirts of Goma, “causing mass panic and flight amongst the population.” Munigi is 9 kilometers (5 miles) from Goma.
Keita said M23 fighters were advancing “in a context of permanent movement of populations fleeing for their lives or used as human shields.”
“Roads are blocked and the airport can no longer be used for evacuation or humanitarian efforts. M23 has declared the airspace over Goma closed,” she said, adding: “In other words, we are trapped.” She said the U.N. is temporarily relocating nonessential personnel from Goma.
In the last 48 hours, two U.N. peacekeepers from South Africa and one from Uruguay were killed and 11 peacekeepers were injured and hospitalized, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman said Sunday ahead of the emergency meeting of the Security Council.
The U.N. chief reiterated his “strongest condemnation” of the M23 offensive “with the support of the Rwanda Defense Forces,” and called on the rebel group to immediately halt all hostile action and withdraw its forces, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Congo cuts ties with Rwanda
Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago. It’s one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich region, where a long-running conflict has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
Rwanda’s government denies backing the rebels, but last year acknowledged that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
The Congolese Foreign Ministry said late Saturday it was severing diplomatic ties with Rwanda and pulling out all diplomatic staff from the country “with immediate effect.”
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told The Associated Press on Sunday that the decision to cut ties was a unilateral move by Congo “that was even published on social media before being sent to our embassy.”
“For us, we took appropriate measures to evacuate our remaining diplomat in Kinshasa, who was under permanent threat by Congolese officials. And this was achieved on Friday, one day before the publication of this so-called note verbale on social media,” he said.
Civilians fleeing rebel advance into Goma
On Sunday morning, heavy gunfire resonated across Goma, just a few kilometers (miles) from the front line. Scores of displaced children and adults fled the Kanyaruchinya camp, one of the largest in eastern Congo, right near the Rwandan border, and headed south to Goma.
“We are fleeing because we saw soldiers on the border with Rwanda throwing bombs and shooting,” said Safi Shangwe, who was heading to Goma.
“We are tired and we are afraid, our children are at risk of starving,” she added.
Some of the displaced worried they will not be safe in Goma, either. “We are going to Goma, but I heard that there are bombs in Goma, too, so now we don’t know where to go,” said Adèle Shimiye.
Hundreds of people attempted to flee to Rwanda through the “Great Barrier” border crossing east of Goma on Sunday. Migration officers carefully checked travel documents.
“I am crossing to the other side to see if we will have a place of refuge because for the moment, security in the city is not guaranteed,” Muahadi Amani, a resident of Goma, told AP.
She said over 21 million people across Congo already need aid, “one of the highest numbers worldwide,” and the situation in the east is rapidly deteriorating. “If hostilities spill into Goma – a densely populated urban center – the impact on civilians could be devastating,” she said.
U.N. deputy humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya told the Security Council on Sunday that “the escalation in the east threatens to make a critical humanitarian situation even worse.”
“Humanitarian access remains constrained, due to insecurity,” she said. “If hostilities spill into Goma — a densely populated urban center — the impact on civilians could be devastating,” she said.
Msuya announced that the U.N. was releasing $17 million from its emergency fund “in light of the scale and severity of the current situation.”
Earlier in the week, the rebels seized Sake, 27 kilometers (16 miles) from Goma, as concerns mounted that the city could soon fall.
Congo’s army said Saturday it fended off an M23 offensive with the help of allied forces, including U.N. troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, also known as SAMIDRC.
In addition to the two South African peacekeepers, seven South African troops with SAMIDIRC have been killed in recent days, South Africa’s Ministry of Defense said.
Since 2021, Congo’s government and allied forces, including SAMIDRC and U.N. troops, have been keeping M23 away from Goma. The U.N. peacekeeping force entered Congo more than two decades ago and has around 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.
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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.