GOMA, Congo — 9 United Nations peacekeepers in jap Congo sustained accidents throughout combating with the M23 armed group, the U.N. mentioned, because the rebels shut in on Goma.
M23 has made important territorial good points in latest weeks, encircling Goma, which has round 2 million folks and is a regional hub for safety and humanitarian efforts.
The peacekeepers have been wounded throughout clashes with the rebels over the previous two days within the city of Sake, the U.N. peacekeeping power in Congo, mentioned in an announcement Friday.
On Thursday, the rebels took management of the city, which is simply 27 kilometers (16 miles) west of Goma and one of many final important routes into the provincial capital nonetheless underneath authorities management, in response to the U.N. chief.
M23 is one in every of about 100 armed teams which have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich jap Congo, alongside the border with Rwanda, in a decadeslong battle that has created one of many world’s largest humanitarian crises.
The insurgent group seized Goma in 2012 and managed it for over per week.
Since 2021, Congo’s authorities and allied forces, together with Burundian troops and U.N. troops, have been maintaining M23 away from Goma.
Congo, the USA and U.N. consultants accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which is principally composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese military over a decade in the past.
Rwanda’s authorities denies the declare however final yr acknowledged that it has troops and missile programs in jap Congo to safeguard its safety, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces close to the border. U.N. consultants estimate there are as much as 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo
The M23 advance in jap Congo has displaced greater than 400,000 folks because the starting of the yr, in response to the U.N. refugee company, exacerbating “determined situations” in severely overcrowded displacement facilities in and round Goma and triggering a rise in cholera circumstances.
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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.
