Signs of surrender and fierce battles in Goma
Signs of surrender and fierce battles in Goma
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On the doorstep of Goma - the site of the UN's biggest peacekeeping mission in the world - there are signs of surrendered soldiers and fierce battles. As we walked on the road in front of the United Nations' main base in Goma - the regional capital of eastern DRC - we stepped around fatigues, rounds and helmets once belonging to the Congolese army fighting the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels.
They now control the strategic city and are fighting for the border post with Rwanda, sitting south of the swathes of mineral-rich mining territory the rebels have been seizing through last year. We see them packed on the back of trucks still marked by the FARDC logo of the Congolese army.
I ask one man watching from the side of the road what he makes of this extreme shift. "This is bad!" he says to me discreetly on the side of the road, with our car as cover from the prying eyes of the junior M23 soldiers. "My family is not good. I am not good - we don't know what comes next.".
Rwandan-backed M23 rebels complete takeover of key Democratic Republic of Congo city. Inside Congolese city overrun by rebels as echoing blasts and crack of bullets force families to hide. What is the fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo about - and is Rwanda invading?.
Read more:Hospitals overwhelmed as rebels complete takeover of GomaInside the Congolese city overrun by rebels. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player. Small groups are meeting the rebels with cheers and clapping. We cannot tell if it is relief from the Congolese state or a necessary precaution for many who do not want to leave their hometown on the cusp of a new administration.
