A rocket struck near a university in the Congolese city of Goma on Wednesday as thousands of civilians fled a renewed offensive by M23 rebels, raising fears of the city’s isolation. Goma, with a population of around two million, is a crucial urban center in the conflict-torn east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. No casualties were reported from the strike, which created a crater in the Lac Vert neighborhood, highlighting the potential threat to Goma. “This shows that M23 is targeting Goma now.
The government has to do something to stop M23’s progress,” said Sophonie Bayonga, a 25-year-old student at the scene. The M23 rebels launched a major offensive in 2022, leading to military intervention and mediation efforts by East African regional leaders. Despite a ceasefire brokered last year, it has been repeatedly violated. Congo, Western powers, and a U.N. expert group have accused the Tutsi-led rebel group of being supported by neighboring Rwanda, a claim Rwanda denies. Carrying bedrolls, babies, and other belongings, hundreds of people marched in the heat along a narrow roadway clogged with banged-up trucks and vans, fleeing once again from the unrest that has plagued eastern Congo for decades.
An aid worker in Sake, Marc Sere, reported that another aid worker was killed in Wednesday’s bombing and called for urgent support. “Humanitarians had to stop actions in this city for security reasons because bombs were falling at any time,” Sere said. According to civil society leader Leopold Muisha, at least 70% of Sake residents have fled to Goma as rebels continue to advance. Muisha also reported four deaths and 25 people injured in recent days. “The rebels are getting closer and closer to Sake (and) the population no longer feels safe,” Muisha said. “We are in real danger.”
Eastern Congo, far from the capital Kinshasa, has long been overrun by more than 120 armed groups vying for control of the region’s gold and other resources, often resorting to mass killings. Locals have noted a worsening of deadly unrest in recent weeks, with several armed groups intensifying attacks on civilians and attempting to seize more territory as the United Nations and regional peacekeepers begin to withdraw at the government’s request. Peacekeepers have been accused of failing to stop attacks on civilians.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who was reelected in December, has struggled to end the violence despite promises to do so. He accuses neighboring Rwanda of providing military support to the M23 rebels, a claim supported by United Nations experts but denied by Rwanda. Meanwhile, in Ituri province to the north, Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces rebels attacked the villages of Manziya and Banzunzuwa late Tuesday, killing at least 13 people with several others missing, according to Kitsa Masikini, leader of the Ituri civil society group.
