Kinshasa — “The greatest danger for the population of Goma is the so-called ‘Wazalendo’ militiamen,” local church observers told Fides about the situation in the capital of the Congolese province of North Kivu, which has fallen into the hands of the M23 rebel movement supported by the Rwandan army.
The so-called “Wazalendo” are members of pro-government militias who are fighting alongside the regular army against the advance of the M23. While most of the regular soldiers surrendered after the capture of Goma or turned themselves over to the MONUSCO Blue Helmets, the “Wazalendo” militiamen went into hiding.
“The Wazalendo are breaking into the homes of ordinary people in search of food, which is a problem for everyone given the shortage of supplies. If they do not find anything to loot, they threaten to take their children away. And it is easy to imagine what they can do to women and girls,” the observers report. “M23 members and Rwandans are trying to restore order. At the moment, there are reports of occasional shootings near the airport.”
“The humanitarian situation in Goma remains difficult because there is no electricity and no water pumped and filtered from Lake Kivu. Without electricity, the pumps and sewage treatment plants do not work. The most difficult conditions are for the displaced people (an estimated one million internally displaced people live in Goma). In the parish of Saint Francis Xavier in Ndosho, a suburb on the outskirts of the city, around 2,000 displaced people live without water and in precarious conditions; in addition, there are around 1,600 people housed in the nearby school,” the observers report. Meanwhile, the rebels are slowly advancing towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province. “The M23 units are 115 km from the city, but are advancing slowly as they still suffer heavy losses,” the sources said. “In recent days, ambulances have been travelling between Goma and Rwanda to bring the remains of the soldiers who fell on the streets of the city to their families and to ensure a dignified burial, as otherwise they would have ended up in mass graves that are currently being dug.
In addition, it is slowly getting hot in Goma and this is another reason why it is urgent to bury the bodies lying on the streets.” “In Bukavu, the situation remains calm for the moment after the withdrawal of foreign aid workers (see Fides, 30/1/2025), but people live in uncertainty,” the observers concluded. Meanwhile, Burundian soldiers have also been sent by the government in Bujumbura to support the Congolese forces. On the political level, yesterday, January 30, Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, held a press conference in Goma, where he reiterated his will to march to Kinshasa to overthrow President Félix Tshisekedi. The British Embassy in Kinshasa, meanwhile, issued a communiqué in English and French condemning the occupation of Goma by the M23 rebel movement and the Rwandan army, and threatening a possible cessation of UK support to Rwanda if hostilities do not cease.
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Source link : https://allafrica.com/stories/202501310445.html
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Publish date : 2025-01-31 15:11:55
