Belgium urges citizens to leave Goma as M23 rebels advance

Intense fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday pitted the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group against the Congolese army, backed by elite UN peacekeepers.

Following the failure of mediation between the DRC and Rwanda under Angolan auspices, the M23 has regained ground in recent weeks and fighting has intensified around Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. The city is home to one million people, with at least as many displaced.

MONUSCO, the UN's stabilisation mission in DRC, said on Friday that its elite Quick Reaction Forces were "actively engaged in intense combat". "Over the past 48 hours, MONUSCO heavy artillery carried out fire missions against M23," the organisation said. There are around 15,000 peacekeepers in the DRC.

North Kivu military governor shot

In Kinshasa, after a defence council chaired by Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi, the army confirmed the death of the military governor of North Kivu, general Peter Cirimwami, who was shot near a front line on Thursday.

The UN has said it will call an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Monday to discuss the fighting. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday he was "deeply troubled" by the resurgence of violence, which he said was " heightening the threat of a regional war".

'Leave Goma while still possible'

Throughout the day, clashes took place just twenty kilometres from Goma, the city at the heart of the violence that has rocked eastern DRC for 30 years, according to military and security sources. The city was hit by intermittent mobile phone, internet and electricity cuts. 

For several days, M23 fighters stationed in the hills around the city have been firing grenades, according to soldiers stationed in the area. Congolese troops say they are retaliating with multiple rocket launchers, visible from the trailers of their pickup trucks. 

The Belgian Foreign ministry has advised the 60 Belgians still in Goma to leave. "If you are currently in Goma, reassess whether your presence is necessary. If not, leave the area temporarily while it is still possible," the country advised on Friday. The United States, Britain and France also urged their citizens to leave Goma.

400,000 people displaced

The M23 is still present around Sake, a town about twenty kilometres west of Goma, where fighting broke out on Thursday, according to a military source. Congolese army helicopter gunships left for Sake in the morning, witnesses said.

Civilians, many of whom have already fled several times, are once again fleeing their homes. According to the UN, 400,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since the beginning of January.

The conflict between the M23, backed by 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers deployed in the east according to the UN, and the Congolese army has been going on for more than three years and has exacerbated a chronic humanitarian crisis in the region.

Peace talks cancelled

The DRC accuses Rwanda of trying to grab the riches of eastern Congo, a charge Kigali denies. A meeting between Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan president Paul Kagame, as part of the peace process overseen by mediator Angola, was cancelled in December due to a lack of agreement on the terms of the deal. 

Turkey, which is very active on the African continent, offered on Thursday to mediate between the DRC and Rwanda. Half a dozen ceasefires and truces have been declared in the region, only to be broken. The latest ceasefire was signed at the end of July.

 

Displaced people on a canoe at the port of Nzulo, near Goma, on 23 January 2025 © PHOTO ZANEM NETY ZAIDI/XINHUA/ABACAPRESS.COM


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