At least 773 people were killed in the largest city of Goma and its surroundings of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in a week. the authorities said.
“These numbers remain for the time being because the rebels asked the population to clean the streets of Goma. There were supposed to be mass graves and the Rucander has taken care of the evacuation of it, ”said the spokesman for the Congolese government, Patrick Muyaya, a briefing on Saturday in the capital Kinshasa and added that the number of fatalities could be higher.
M23 is the most effective of more than 100 armed groups that compete in the mineral -rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which contains enormous insoles for a large part of the global technology. According to experts from the United Nations, they are supported by around 4,000 soldiers from neighboring Rwanda.
The progress of the rebels to other areas was slowed down by the Military of the Central African nation, which some villages held back from them. However, the military was weakened after losing hundreds of troops, and foreign mercenaries arose to the rebels after the fall of Goma.
In the meantime, hundreds of Goma residents return to the city on Saturday after the rebels had promised to restore basic services such as water and power supply. They cleaned up the neighborhoods, which were littered with weapons with ruins and were filled with the bloodstood.
The UN Peace Trainer Jean-Pierre Lacroix said on Friday that M23 and Rwandic forces were about 60 km north of the Bukavu provincial capital in Südkivu. Lacroix said the rebels seem to move pretty quickly, and a few kilometers (miles) to conquer an airport would be “another really important step”.
The capture of Goma has brought humanitarian operations into “standstill and an important lifestyle for the aid tax” in the Ost -DRC, said Rose Tchwenko, country director of the Mercy Corps Aid Group.
“The escalation of violence against Bukavu raises the fear of even greater shift, while the collapse of humanitarian access that is stranded without support,” she said.
