M23 and Rwandan troops launched a new offensive in eastern DRC on Wednesday, where they have already taken control of the city of Goma in fighting that has left at least 2,900 dead, according to a new UN report. “Some 2,000 bodies have been recovered from the streets of Goma in recent days and 900 bodies are in the morgue”, said the deputy head of the UN mission in DRC, Vivian van de Perre, adding that the death toll could rise further. After seizing the capital of North Kivu province last week, the M23 had unilaterally decreed a humanitarian ceasefire that was supposed to be in force since Tuesday. He had added that he had “no intention of taking control of Bukavu or other localities”.. But on Wednesday at dawn, the combatants of the armed group and the Rwandan soldiers initiated intense fighting against the Congolese armed forces in the neighboring province of South Kivu. According to security and humanitarian sources, they quickly captured the mining town of Nyabibwe, about 100 km from Bukavu and 70 km from the provincial airport. “It is well established that the unilateral ceasefire that had been decreed was a lie as usual”, the spokesman for the Congolese government, Patrick Muyaya, told AFP. In the case of the Kivu people, the Kivu people have been the victims of the violence and have been the victims of violence. According to local and military sources, this respite has served both sides to reinforce in troops and material. On Wednesday in Bukavu, a large city of one million inhabitants, a fervent crowd, candle in hand, gathered for a prayer for peace. The international community and mediator countries like Angola and Kenya tried to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, fearing a regional conflagration.
Goma: 2,900 dead, new offensive by the M23 and Rwandan troops
