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Eastern Congo residents scramble for food and safety as conflict intensifies

Eastern Congo residents scramble for food and safety as conflict intensifies

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…
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South African military: 2 soldiers killed, 3 wounded on Congo mission

South African military: 2 soldiers killed, 3 wounded on Congo mission

SOUTH Africa's military said that two of its soldiers were killed and three wounded by a mortar bomb in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as President Cyril Ramaphosa struck back against opposition claims that they were ill-equipped. South Africa said earlier this week that it would send 2,900 troops as part of its contribution to a force deployed by southern African regional bloc SADC to help Congo fight rebel groups in its restive eastern region. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said in a statement posted on X that a mortar bomb landed inside one of the South African contingent's military…
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Congolese city Goma under threat as thousands flee rebel advance

Congolese city Goma under threat as thousands flee rebel advance

A rocket landed near a university in the Congolese city of Goma as thousands of civilians fled a fresh advance by M23 rebels that threatens to isolate the city of around two million people. There were no casualties from the strike, which blasted a crater into open ground in the Lac Vert neighbourhood, but it underscored the potential threat to Goma, a strategic urban hub in the Democratic Republic of Congo's conflict-ridden east. "This shows that M23 is targeting Goma now. The government has to do something to stop M23's progress," 25-year student Sophonie Bayonga said at the scene. The…
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Rebel fighting cuts power lines to Congolese city of Goma

Rebel fighting cuts power lines to Congolese city of Goma

THE main power lines to the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have been cut due to an escalation in rebel fighting nearby, leaving hospitals and water systems without power, the electricity network operator said on Tuesday. Virunga National Park, which operates the network that supplies about 80% of Goma's electricity, said on Monday that clashes between Congo's army and the M23 rebels had severed the main power lines to Goma, a city of over 2 million people and the capital of North Kivu province. The M23 is a Tutsi-led armed group that Congo and U.N.…
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DRC rape scandal: survivors speak

DRC rape scandal: survivors speak

FOUR men with machetes were hard on their heels as a group of women raced through the dense forest surrounding east Congo's city of Goma, desperate to reach a displacement camp they had left to collect firewood. One tripped on a stone and fell. She had no time to react before one of the men caught up. "He raped me," she recalled two weeks later in Bulengo, one of several camps near Goma sheltering about 600,000 people that have fled conflict zones. "He told me that if I screamed he would kill me," she said. "I felt dirty." The 35-year-old…
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Congolese flee on foot towards Goma as rebels advance

Congolese flee on foot towards Goma as rebels advance

DJAFFAR AL KATANTY SAFARI Hangi walked for hours with a baby strapped to his back and six young children in tow trying to find safety as apparent gains by rebel forces in eastern Congo sparked a fresh exodus of people towards the provincial capital Goma. The family was among hundreds of Congolese fleeing through the town of Sake, which they no longer saw as secure after the M23 rebel group appeared to gain control of the frontline hotspot of Mushaki around 15 km (9 miles) to the west. "If it weren't for this war, we would be in our village without any…
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Army in control of town near key eastern Congo city Goma after gunfire

Army in control of town near key eastern Congo city Goma after gunfire

A town just west of the major east Congo city of Goma appeared under army control hours after hundreds of residents fled an outbreak of gunfire for fear of an advance by M23 rebels, according to a Reuters reporter in the area. Hundreds of people had left Sake earlier in the day, lugging their belongings along a 15-kilometre (9-mile) stretch of road to Goma, worried they might get caught up in fighting between the army and M23. The government accuses M23 of mass atrocities against civilians over the past year, something it denies. But later on Thursday soldiers accompanied a…
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Civilians attack U.N. peacekeeping convoy in eastern Congo

Civilians attack U.N. peacekeeping convoy in eastern Congo

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…
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Congo’s skaters feel reborn

Congo’s skaters feel reborn

DJAFFAR AL KATANTY WHEN the Nyiragongo volcano erupted in May, Serge Makolo only had time to grab his roller skates and a fistful of medals before the magma swallowed his house on the outskirts of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Everything else was lost under the river of molten rock, including the skates, cones and helmets he used to train younger skaters, whom the 24-year-old calls "world champions of tomorrow." Makolo, a medallist at several local and regional meets, is eager to win more competitions so he can get money to rebuild his academy, whose recruits currently…
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Plane crash in eastern Congo kills three

Plane crash in eastern Congo kills three

A small plane crashed shortly after take-off in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday, killing all three people on board, the region's governor said. The plane was carrying two pilots and a passenger when it crashed near Kavumu airport, which serves Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province. First responders in fluorescent bibs picked through the crumpled wreckage in the middle of a large field, according to a Reuters witness at the crash site. "I confirm the crash. There were three people on board who all died," South Kivu Governor Theo Kasi told Reuters. Air accidents are common in eastern…
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