At least 17 people killed as fighting in DR Congo’s Goma intensifies
Al Jazeera
The M23 rebel group has declared the key city of Goma under its control, signalling a big blow to the Congolese army.
Fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) city of Goma has intensified as the military continues to hold off the M23 forces.
On Monday, rebels, which the United Nations says are backed by Rwanda, marched into Goma and declared the key city under their control, signalling a big blow to the Congolese army and a serious escalation in the years-long conflict that has killed hundreds and displaced millions in the eastern DRC.
DRC’s Rural Development Minister Muhindo Nzangi said the Congolese army controlled 80 percent of Goma, with Rwandan troops either on the city’s outskirts or back across the border.
At least 17 people were killed in Goma on Monday, and the AFP news agency reported quoting hospital sources that doctors in the city were treating 367 people wounded in the clashes.
Civil society members and NGOs working in Goma put the death toll at 25, with 375 people injured.