eastern Congo - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

By DJAFFAR AL KATANTY and ERIKAS MWISI KAMBALE

Belgium encourages DRC to file complaint against Rwanda at the ICJ

THE Democratic Republic of Congo should file a complaint with the International Court of Justice over Rwanda's failure to respect its border, Belgium's ambassador to Congo said at a meeting to assess the deepening crisis in eastern Congo. Congo has been struggling to push back M23 rebels since they launched a comeback offensive in the already restive east in 2022. The fighting has displaced 738,000 more people in the first three months of this year alone, according to the U.N. aid agency OCHA. The Congolese government, U.N. officials and Western powers including the United States and Belgium have accused Rwanda of providing…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

25 civilians killed in militia attack in eastern Congo

NEWS

THE death toll from an attack in a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province rose to 25, a local chief and civil society leader said after a government spokesman and a U.N. document confirmed the attack. The Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) group, one of many militias operating in the conflict-ridden east, carried out the killings in the village of Galayi, 70 km (45 miles) northwest of the city of Bunia, they said. Fifteen bodies were discovered on Sunday, in addition to 10 bodies recovered on Saturday, Banzala Danny, a local chief, and Vital…

Feb

2024

By DJAFFAR AL KATANTY

Eastern Congo residents scramble for food and safety as conflict intensifies

NEWS

AN intensifying conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) army and the Tutsi-led M23 rebels, allegedly backed by Rwanda, has disrupted food supplies to the eastern city of Goma, affecting over two million residents and displaced individuals. Clashes have escalated since the start of the year in towns and villages around the provincial capital as rebels seized territory, forcing thousands to seek refuge in the city. The use of heavy artillery and shelling has killed dozens, and hospitals in Goma have struggled to cope with the influx of injured civilians. The United Nations and other aid agencies have warned that the…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa to deploy 2,900 troops to fight armed groups in eastern Congo

NEWS

SOUTH Africa will send 2,900 troops as part of its contribution to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) force deployed to tackle armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the president's office said in a statement on Monday. The one-year deployment will cover the period between December 15. 2023 and December 15, 2024, and will cost around 2 billion rand ($105.75 million), the statement said. The 16-member state SADC approved the eastern Congo mission in May last year to help Congo, the world's top supplier of cobalt and Africa's top copper producer, address instability and deteriorating security in its restive eastern…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

UN says 2,000 peacekeepers to leave eastern Congo in withdrawal’s first phase

NEWS

ABOUT 2,000 U.N. troops will leave restive eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo by the end of April in the first phase of the peacekeeping mission's planned withdrawal from the country, the head of mission said on Saturday. The U.N. Security Council approved the end of the mission in December following a request by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in September to fast-track the withdrawal of the peacekeepers. The currently 13,500-strong force, known as MONUSCO, took over from an earlier U.N. operation in 2010 to help quell insecurity in the east of the Central African country, where armed groups fight over territory and…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

East African regional leaders demand ceasefire in eastern Congo

NEWS

CLEMENT MANIRABARUSHA EAST African regional leaders on Saturday renewed their call for an immediate ceasefire by all sides in the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that pits the country's military against a rebel group it has accused Rwanda of supporting. At a summit in Burundi's capital Bujumbura, the leaders of the regional East African Community (EAC) bloc called for an "immediate ceasefire by all parties," according to a communique issued at the end of the meeting. The M23 rebel group has seized large areas of eastern Congo's North Kivu province in a rapid onslaught since October 20…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Catholics from in DRC make cross-country journey to meet pope

RELIGION

DJAFFAR AL KATANTY FATHER Adeodatus Muhigi is among the Roman Catholic faithful in the Democratic Republic of Congo's restive city of Goma who prepared to welcome Pope Francis last July before the pontiff had to postpone a trip to Africa because of a knee ailment. Now instead of welcoming the pope in Goma during the rescheduled trip, Father Muhigi will join dozens of other Catholics from the east, including victims of violence and natural disasters, who are making the cross-country journey to the Congolese capital Kinshasa this week. When the plan for Francis' visit to the Central African Country, the first by a…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Landslide kills at least 8 people in eastern Congo

NEWS

A landslide crushed at least eight people and seriously injured nine others near an artisanal mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official told Reuters. The wounded are in critical condition and receiving treatment at a local health facility, the administrator of Fizi territory in South Kivu Province, Aime Kawaya Mutipula, said by phone. Landslides are relatively common in the hilly slopes of eastern Congo where heavy rains can saturate and loosen the soil. But they are more likely to occur if the soil has been disturbed by mining, tree-felling or construction. In December, intense rains in…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

Civilians attack U.N. peacekeeping convoy in eastern Congo

NEWS

CIVILIANS attacked a United Nations peacekeeping convoy in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday evening, injuring two people, the U.N. mission said. The convoy was attacked when it stopped at an army checkpoint near an internally displaced person site in Kanyarutshinya, 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the city of Goma. A crowd assembled and threw stones at the convoy, setting fire to at least one truck, the U.N. mission, MONUSCO, said on Twitter. U.N. peacekeepers fired warning shots into the air and finally left the zone, it said. Frustration has grown in the region this year with the…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

East Congo clashes resume after de-escalation agreement with Rwanda

NEWS

CLASHES broke out in eastern Congo between the military and M23 rebels, a civil society and a rebel source said, a day after the presidents of Congo and Rwanda agreed to de-escalate diplomatic tensions over the insurgency. The M23, which Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting, began a major offensive in the eastern borderlands at the end of March, seizing an important border post and other towns despite army efforts to stop its advances. Rwanda denies backing the M23 and has in turn accused Congo of fighting alongside another armed group intent on seizing power in Kigali. Rwandan President Paul Kagame…