Fighting between DRC army and M23 rebels rages in eastern city of Goma
Fighting between DRC army and M23 rebels rages in eastern city of Goma
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Residents in North Kivu report continuing clashes as large crowds of protesters take to streets in Kinshasa. Dead bodies lay on the streets and explosions and gunfire echoed across the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, as fighting continued to rage between the army and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
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Residents reported continuing gun and mortar fire in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and a regional humanitarian hub for displaced people, after M23 fighters entered the city on Sunday. The fighting has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the province. Hospitals were overwhelmed with patients with gunshot and shrapnel wounds, UN and other aid agencies said on Tuesday.
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“The humanitarian situation in and around Goma remains extremely worrying,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (Ocha), at a briefing in Geneva. “We have reports of rapes committed by fighters, looting of property … and humanitarian health facilities being hit,” he added.
At the same briefing, Adelheid Marschang, the World Health Organization (WHO) emergency response coordinator for DRC, said there were reports of health workers being shot at and patients including babies being caught in crossfire. The Red Cross said one of its hospitals within 24 hours had received more than 100 patients with head wounds and chest trauma from mortars and shrapnel.
