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29-01-2025
KINSHASHA: Fierce fighting rages on in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma, as rebels and the army exchange fire.
“All we can hear (are) gunshots around the city,” one Goma resident, who has been trapped in his house since the weekend, told media.
Residents shared videos of M23 rebels patrolling Goma’s main streets following Sunday’s lightning advance against the Congolese army that saw tens of thousands of people fleeing neighboring towns.
The rebels say they are in control of the city but the Congolese authorities’ dispute this.
Prosper, a local journalist in Goma, told media there were clashes between the army and the rebels in parts of the city. “We’re really worried,” he said.
The M23 has taken control of the Goma branch of state broadcaster RTNC, according to the UN-sponsored Radio Okapi.
One Goma resident, Lucie, told media she was hiding in her bed because she was terrified.
“We can hear the shooting outside our homes. We cannot leave.”
Media has reported that at least 17 people have been killed in the fighting and over 300 injured.
This swift advance comes hours after DR Congo’s foreign minister accused neighboring Rwanda of declaring war by sending its troops over the border to support the M23.
Rwanda does not deny backing the M23 but accuses the Congolese authorities of supporting militias trying to topple the government in Kigali.
Kenya’s President William Ruto, the current chair of the East African Community, has called for a ceasefire, and announced that the presidents of both the DR Congo and Rwanda will attend an emergency regional summit on Wednesday.
President Ruto said it was incumbent on regional leaders to help facilitate a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Amid the escalating clashes in Goma, Rwanda has also been hit.
Five civilians had been killed and 25 seriously injured in the town of Gisenyi, just across the border from Goma, a Rwandan military spokesperson told media.
The M23 group has taken control of vast parts of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo since 2021. In the past few weeks, the group has been advancing swiftly on Goma amid intense fighting.
Since the start of 2025 more than 400,000 people have been forced from their homes in the provinces of North and South Kivu, according to the UN’s refugee agency.
One woman, Alice Feza, said she was at a loss about what to do next, as this was the fourth time she had had to run away from the M23 advance.
“People are fleeing everywhere, and we don’t know where to go any more, because we started fleeing a long time ago,” Ms Feza said, adding: “The war catches us here among the host families, now we have nowhere to go.”
Key roads surrounding Goma are blocked and the city’s airport can no longer be used for evacuation and humanitarian efforts, the UN has said.
Following the M23 claims that it had seized the city, the government said its forces were still controlling strategic areas, including the airport.
“Contrary to the manipulative messages circulating on social networks the FARDC [the DR Congo army] hold the Goma airport… and all the strategic points of the capital of the North Kivu Province,” it said in a statement early on Monday morning. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
