Over 770 people dead in Eastern Congo clashes
By Linda Bordoni
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s largest eastern city, of around 2 million people, including hundreds of thousands of refugees, is contended by M23 militias who are continuing their march on Bukavu in Kivu province.
North Kivu in DR Congo was among the war-torn regions Pope Francis entrusted to prayers for peace during his Angelus address on Sunday and during his General Audience last Wednesday. His appeals resonated amid continued fighting in which more than 770 people have been killed and nearly 3000 injured in the city and its vicinity.
Since the start of the rebel offensive on 26 January, witnesses have described bodies abandoned on the streets and overflowing morgues. It is feared the death toll could be much higher than the numbers officially registered.
Meanwhile, those arriving at the hospitals with gunshot or shrapnel wounds face situations of inadequate personnel and supplies. Witnesses say many are forced to share beds while others lie on the floor, in pain, as they wait for medical attention.
Fears for spread of diseases
Fears of the spread of diseases are compounded by the lack of water and electricity in parts of the densely populated city and throughout the region, which is also facing mpox and cholera outbreaks.
The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, far more than in 2012, when they first captured Goma before withdrawing under international pressure.
They are the most powerful of the more than 100 armed groups vying for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology.
Unlike in 2012, the rebels say they now plan to march to Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, describing the country as a failed state under President Félix Tshisekedi.
Decades of conflict, displacement, suffering
But the fighting in Congo is rooted in colonization and a decades-long ethnic conflict that has disrupted supply chains, leading to shortages in aid and precipitating a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Italian Bishops’ Conference, which has stood by the population with humanitarian support since 1991, echoed the Pope’s call for peace in DR Congo and on Monday announced the allocation of a further one million euros towards emergency projects in Goma and socio-economic development initiatives.
(Source: AP and other agencies)
Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here
