M23 rebels took Goma’s airport on Tuesday, cutting off critical access to hundreds of thousands of displaced people in eastern Congo. The takeover of the airport followed the rebels’ Monday offensive, which saw the city fall and bodies litter the streets. This is the worst escalation of a three-decade-long conflict, rooted in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and struggles for control of Congo’s mineral resources.
Goma town has been thrown into chaos and pandemonium. Thousands of civilians are fleeing Goma town; most of these have sought refuge in neighboring Rwanda. Trucks carrying refugee families have passed over the borders, with whole families running carrying their children wrapped in fabric stuff. The displaced even include those previously seeking shelter at Goma that had been pushed out by early M23 attacks this year.
Rwandan troops are said to be supporting the M23 rebels, although Rwanda claims it is defending itself from Congolese militias. Even though the government of the Congo and UN peacekeeping officials have confirmed Rwandan troop presence, Rwanda has not commented on its role in the conflict.
The unrest in Congo’s capital city, Kinshasa, brought with it violent protests that targeted foreign embassies-some of them belonged to Rwanda, France, and the US Anger is now at the boiling point regarding foreign interference into the conflict. Looters also targeted the Kenyan embassy, and videos shared online gave the sceneries of vast lootings.
Violence reports in Goma include lootings on humanitarian facilities, rapes, and attacks on health centers. International Committee of the Red Cross has expressed concerns over a medicine warehouse and a laboratory containing dangerous germs, including Ebola, which might be a great public health threat if damaged. Escalating violence threatened to worsen the humanitarian crisis in the region.
