Red Cross escorts DRC troops from UN base in rebel-held Goma to Kinshasa
Hundreds of Congolese soldiers and police officers seeking refuge at the United Nations' base in Goma since the eastern city's capture in January are being transferred to Kinshasa, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday.
ICRC will escort the now-unarmed soldiers and police officers as well as their families from the Monusco peacekeeping mission's site to the Democracy Republic of Congo's (DRC) capital over the course of several days, it said.
According to Monusco, some 1,400 people — mostly soldiers — have taken refuge in its Goma base since late January.
"In view of the complexity of the operation and the risks associated with it, the ICRC calls for respect for international humanitarian law and a sense of responsibility on the part of all actors," it said.
In an escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover of Rwanda's 1994 genocide and the struggle over DRC's vast mineral resources, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized Goma, eastern DRC's largest city, in late January and Bukavu, the area's second-largest city, weeks later.
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