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Time of India
21 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
UN official lauds India Level III Hosp in Goma for peacekeeping excellence
Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, visited the India Level III Hospital in Goma on Saturday, praising its medical care and vital role in UN peacekeeping. Welcomed by Col Rajesh W Adhau, SM, Hospital Commander, Keita received a briefing on the facility's advanced surgical, intensive care, and diagnostic capabilities, critical during recent regional conflicts. As the mission's top-tier medical center, the hospital serves UN personnel across the region, earning accolades for its holistic occupational health programs, including mental health support, stress management, and preventive screenings. Keita highlighted its swift response to cholera and M-Pox outbreaks, calling it a model for public health preparedness. The hospital's humanitarian outreach, aiding FARDC (Armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), PNC forces (Congolese National Police), and civilians, showcased its commitment beyond its mandate. Keita commended the staff's professionalism and resilience under pressure, noting their work bolsters mission effectiveness and peacekeeper morale. She honored Col Adhau's leadership and reaffirmed UN's focus on peacekeepers' well-being.
Time of India
21 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
UN official lauds India Level III Hospital in Goma for peacekeeping xcellence
Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, visited the India Level III Hospital in Goma on Saturday, praising its medical care and vital role in UN peacekeeping. Welcomed by Col Rajesh W Adhau, SM, Hospital Commander, Keita received a briefing on the facility's advanced surgical, intensive care, and diagnostic capabilities, critical during recent regional conflicts. As the mission's top-tier medical center, the hospital serves UN personnel across the region, earning accolades for its holistic occupational health programs, including mental health support, stress management, and preventive screenings. Keita highlighted its swift response to cholera and M-Pox outbreaks, calling it a model for public health preparedness. The hospital's humanitarian outreach, aiding FARDC (Armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), PNC forces (Congolese National Police), and civilians, showcased its commitment beyond its mandate. Keita commended the staff's professionalism and resilience under pressure, noting their work bolsters mission effectiveness and peacekeeper morale. She honored Col Adhau's leadership and reaffirmed UN's focus on peacekeepers' well-being.
Express Tribune
06-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
DR Congo officials meet M23 rebels
People ride past Congolese people, displaced by recent clashes between the M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), as they prepare to leave the camp after being instructed by the M23 rebels to vacate the camps on the outskirts of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo on February 12, 2025. Photo REUTERS A Democratic Republic of Congo government delegation has met with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in Qatar in a bid to halt fighting in the country's east, a source with knowledge of the talks said Saturday. The M23 has taken control of large swathes of the DRC's eastern provinces of North and South Kivu since 2021 and captured their capitals Goma and Bukavu in a lightning offensive earlier this year. "A discreet meeting was hosted by the Qataris in Doha last week between delegations from the government of DRC and the AFC/M23 movement, marking their first direct encounter in a long time," the source told AFP. "Further talks are now expected in Doha, again with the Qataris mediating, to sustain the momentum and explore constructive solutions to end the conflict peacefully." The source described the opening round of talks in late March as "positive", saying it had built "trust between the two sides that led to the withdrawal of M23 forces from the strategically important city of Walikale as a gesture of goodwill".
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
M23 fighters seize key DR Congo town despite ceasefire bid
The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has taken control of the mining hub of Walikale in DR Congo, local sources said Thursday, despite attempts to broker a ceasefire this week. The seizure of the town of around 60,000 people late on Wednesday marks the farthest west the anti-government group has advanced into the interior of the Democratic Republic of Congo since it emerged in 2012. It comes just after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame held surprise talks in Doha on Tuesday, expressing their support for a ceasefire. But the terms of any truce are up in the air, with mediator Qatar saying further negotiations were necessary. "Walikale-centre is occupied by the M23... We retreated to avoid human losses," an officer in the DRC's military (FARDC) told AFP, saying its forces were now around 30 kilometres (20 miles) away in Mubi. A separate security source confirmed the capture and also said fighting took place in Mubi on Thursday. The offensive had already caused mining group, Alphamin, this month to evacuate its employees and halt operations at the world's third most productive tin mine. The Bisie site produces the tin ore cassiterite and is located in the Walikale district of North Kivu province. The halt in mining drove up prices of tin, while concerns rise over the supply chain of the valuable metal used to solder electronic components onto printed circuit boards. The boom in the electronics and renewable energy sectors has fuelled growing demand, according to analysts. The region also has several gold mines. The M23 fighters "are in the neighbourhoods of Walikale", Fiston Misona, a civil society representative from the community, said early Thursday. Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they saw groups of armed fighters "through the windows" of their house. A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) base was "caught in the crossfire" during the fighting but no injuries were reported, local MSF official Marco Doneda said. "The MSF team is concerned about the influx of those wounded in the coming days and hours," he said. - Ceasefire bid - The M23 has waged a lightning push over the last few months in the mineral-rich eastern DRC, driving the Congolese army out of much of North and South Kivu provinces and raising fears of a wider regional war. Walikale lies at the junction of two roads coming from the cities of Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu, both now under the M23's control. The DRC government has accused Rwanda of backing the M23 in order to seize valuable mineral resources and rich farmland. Rwanda denies providing the M23 with military support, but a UN experts' report has said that Rwanda maintains around 4,000 troops in the DRC's east to assist the armed group. On Tuesday, Kagame and Tshisekedi met in Doha for talks mediated by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. The two African heads of state -- whose previous attempts at talks collapsed at the last minute -- expressed their support for "an immediate and unconditional ceasefire", a statement from the three countries said. No details have emerged on the terms of how a ceasefire will be implemented, as it would also have to involve the M23 on the ground to succeed. By coming to the table in Doha "Kagame is implicitly recognising his role in the rebellion in the east," Thierry Vircoulon, associate researcher at the Sub-Saharan Africa Centre of the French Institute for International Relations, told AFP. The M23, however, "has no negotiating agenda", he said. "They have no demands. Their goal is to oust Tshisekedi from power." The meeting between the two heads of state came after peace talks between Kinshasa and the M23, due to have been held in the Angolan capital Luanda on Tuesday, were cancelled. Half a dozen ceasefires and truces have been brokered, and then broken since the end of 2021. str-ayv/cld/giv-kjm/sbk
Al Jazeera
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
M23 rebels capture key town of Walikale in eastern DR Congo
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have pushed deeper into the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, capturing the town of Walikale despite growing international calls for a ceasefire. The rebels entered the mining hub in North Kivu province on Wednesday, a day after DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame called for an immediate ceasefire after meeting in Qatar's capital Doha. Nestor Mavudisa, a spokesperson for the Congolese army (FARDC), confirmed on Thursday that 'the enemy' now controlled Walikale, located around 400 km (250 miles) from Kisangani, the country's fourth-biggest city. Corneille Nangaa, head of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which includes M23, dismissed the calls from the leaders of DR Congo and Rwanda for a ceasefire. 'We are Congolese who are fighting for a cause,' he told the Reuters news agency. 'What happened in Doha, as long as we don't know the details, and as long as it doesn't solve our problems, we'll say it doesn't concern us.' An officer in the Congolese military told AFP that forces had 'retreated to avoid human losses'. Fiston Misona, a civil society activist in Walikale, told the Reuters news agency: 'The rebels are now visible in the centre of the city. There are at least seven people wounded who are at the general hospital.' Thousands flee The seizure of Walikale marks the farthest west that M23 has advanced into the DRC's interior since it first emerged in 2012. The town of about 15,000 people sits about 125km (78 miles) northwest of eastern DRC's largest city, Goma, which the M23 rebels seized in January. Al Jazeera's Alain Uaykani, reporting from Goma, said residents of Walikale confirmed the presence of M23 in the town. 'Thousands of people are already on the road, as a majority of people are trying to take the road towards the neighbouring province of Kisangani, where they can seek shelter,' Uaykani said. Earlier this month, M23 captured Nyabiondo city, 110km (68 miles) northwest of Goma, after days of fierce fighting with government forces and pro-government militias. In February, it captured Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province. The offensive had already caused the mining group Alphamin earlier this month to evacuate its employees and halt operations at its Bisie mine for the tin ore cassiterite, the world's third largest, in the Walikale district. The region is also home to several gold mines. Neighbouring countries and foreign powers have been stepping up diplomatic efforts to halt what has quickly become eastern DRC's worst conflict since a 1998-2003 war that drew in multiple neighbouring countries. The United Nations says Rwanda has supported M23 by providing arms and sending troops – an accusation Kigali denies. The DRC and M23 had been expected to have their first direct talks on Tuesday in Angola. However, M23 pulled out of the talks on Monday, blaming European Union sanctions against some of its leaders and Rwandan officials. The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people to flee to surrounding territories and neighbouring countries, according to the UN.
