Shooting rings out in Congo's Goma after rebels claim city
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Gunfire rang out early on Monday across parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, hours after Rwanda-backed rebels said they had seized the city despite the United Nations Security Council's calling for an end to the offensive.
The recent advance by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel alliance has forced thousands in Congo's mineral-rich east from their homes and triggered fears that a decades-old simmering conflict risks reigniting a broader regional war.
"There is confusion in the city; here near the airport, we see soldiers. I have not seen the M23 yet," one resident told Reuters. "There are also some cases of looting of stores."
Another resident of the city said there was heavy shooting in the centre of Goma.
Residents said gunfire could also be heard near the airport and near the border with Rwanda.
It was not immediately possible to determine who was responsible for the shooting, but one resident said they were likely to be warning shots, not fighting.
The rebels had ordered government soldiers to surrender by 0300 on Monday (0100 GMT) and 100 Congolese soldiers had handed their weapons in to Uruguayan troops in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO), Uruguay's military said.
MONUSCO staff and their families were evacuating across the border to Rwanda on Monday morning, where 10 buses were waiting to pick them up.
Kenya's President William Ruto, chairman of the East African Community bloc, will hold an emergency meeting for heads of state on the situation, said Korir Sing'Oei, principal secretary at Kenya's foreign ministry.
The eastern borderlands of Democratic Republic of Congo, a country roughly the size of Western Europe, remain a tinder-box of rebel zones and militia fiefdoms in the wake of two successive regional wars stemming from Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Well-trained and professionally armed, M23 - the latest in a long line of Tutsi-led rebel movements - says it exists to protect Congo's ethnic Tutsi population.
The U.N. Security Council held crisis talks on Sunday over the situation in conflict, which has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
U.N. experts say that Rwanda has deployed 3,000 - 4,000 troops and provided significant firepower, including missiles and snipers, to support the M23 in fighting in Congo.
The United States, France and Britain on Sunday condemned what they said was Rwanda's backing of the rebel advance.
Kigali dismissed statements that "did not provide any solutions" and blamed Kinshasa for triggering the recent escalation.
"The fighting close to the Rwandan border continues to present a serious threat to Rwanda's security and territorial integrity, and necessitates Rwanda's sustained defensive posture," Rwanda's foreign ministry said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
23 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Russian drones target two Ukrainian cities, killing at least one person
The assault targeted the southern port city of Odesa and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, hitting apartment blocks, officials said on Friday. The barrage of more than 20 drones injured almost two dozen civilians, including girls aged 17 and 12, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The drones targeted multi-storey apartment buildings in Odesa (Michael Shtekel/AP) The strikes came as a Kremlin official said he expected an announcement next week on dates for a fresh round of direct peace talks. 'Russia continues its tactics of targeted terror against our people,' Mr Zelensky said on messaging app Telegram, urging the US and the European Union to increase economic pressure on Moscow. Russia has shown no sign of relenting in its attacks, more than three years after it invaded its neighbour. It is pressing a summer offensive on parts of the 620-mile front line and has kept up long-range strikes that have hit civilian areas. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the date for the next round peace talks is expected to be agreed next week. Kyiv officials have not recently spoken about resuming talks with Russia, last held when delegations met in Istanbul on June 2, though Ukraine continues to offer a ceasefire and support US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. Firefighters in Odesa (Michael Shtekel/AP) The two rounds of brief talks yielded only agreements on the exchange of prisoners and wounded soldiers. A fire caused by Russia's nighttime strike on Odesa engulfed a four-storey residential building, which partly collapsed and injured three emergency workers. A separate fire spread across the upper floors of a 23-storey high-rise, leading to the evacuation of around 600 residents. In Kharkiv, at least eight drones hit civilian infrastructure, injuring four people including two children, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service. Russia launched 80 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Ukraine's air force said, claiming that air defences shot down or jammed 70 of them.
North Wales Chronicle
24 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Russian drones target two Ukrainian cities, killing at least one person
The assault targeted the southern port city of Odesa and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, hitting apartment blocks, officials said on Friday. The barrage of more than 20 drones injured almost two dozen civilians, including girls aged 17 and 12, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The strikes came as a Kremlin official said he expected an announcement next week on dates for a fresh round of direct peace talks. 'Russia continues its tactics of targeted terror against our people,' Mr Zelensky said on messaging app Telegram, urging the US and the European Union to increase economic pressure on Moscow. Russia has shown no sign of relenting in its attacks, more than three years after it invaded its neighbour. It is pressing a summer offensive on parts of the 620-mile front line and has kept up long-range strikes that have hit civilian areas. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the date for the next round peace talks is expected to be agreed next week. Kyiv officials have not recently spoken about resuming talks with Russia, last held when delegations met in Istanbul on June 2, though Ukraine continues to offer a ceasefire and support US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. The two rounds of brief talks yielded only agreements on the exchange of prisoners and wounded soldiers. A fire caused by Russia's nighttime strike on Odesa engulfed a four-storey residential building, which partly collapsed and injured three emergency workers. A separate fire spread across the upper floors of a 23-storey high-rise, leading to the evacuation of around 600 residents. In Kharkiv, at least eight drones hit civilian infrastructure, injuring four people including two children, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service. Russia launched 80 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Ukraine's air force said, claiming that air defences shot down or jammed 70 of them.
South Wales Guardian
39 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Russian drones target two Ukrainian cities, killing at least one person
The assault targeted the southern port city of Odesa and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, hitting apartment blocks, officials said on Friday. The barrage of more than 20 drones injured almost two dozen civilians, including girls aged 17 and 12, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The strikes came as a Kremlin official said he expected an announcement next week on dates for a fresh round of direct peace talks. 'Russia continues its tactics of targeted terror against our people,' Mr Zelensky said on messaging app Telegram, urging the US and the European Union to increase economic pressure on Moscow. Russia has shown no sign of relenting in its attacks, more than three years after it invaded its neighbour. It is pressing a summer offensive on parts of the 620-mile front line and has kept up long-range strikes that have hit civilian areas. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the date for the next round peace talks is expected to be agreed next week. Kyiv officials have not recently spoken about resuming talks with Russia, last held when delegations met in Istanbul on June 2, though Ukraine continues to offer a ceasefire and support US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. The two rounds of brief talks yielded only agreements on the exchange of prisoners and wounded soldiers. A fire caused by Russia's nighttime strike on Odesa engulfed a four-storey residential building, which partly collapsed and injured three emergency workers. A separate fire spread across the upper floors of a 23-storey high-rise, leading to the evacuation of around 600 residents. In Kharkiv, at least eight drones hit civilian infrastructure, injuring four people including two children, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service. Russia launched 80 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Ukraine's air force said, claiming that air defences shot down or jammed 70 of them.
