Clashes kill 17 in DR Congo’s Goma as pro-Rwandan forces enter city

Deadly clashes in Goma between Congolese military and M23 rebels backed by Rwanda escalate humanitarian crisis.

Clashes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s besieged city of Goma have killed at least 17 people and wounded nearly 370, hospital sources said on Monday (January 27, 2025), as the Congolese military fought to hold off M23 forces backed by the Rwandan army.

Artillery fire and gunshots echoed across the major hub in the DRC’s mineral-rich east, as Kigali said five civilians were killed across the Rwandan border.

There were conflicting accounts over how much of Goma remained under Congolese control after the M23 armed group and Rwandan soldiers entered the city centre on Sunday (January 26, 2025) night.

“We are in our beds because we are afraid,” Goma resident Lucie told AFP by telephone.

“We can hear the shooting outside our homes, we cannot leave.”

The M23 resurfaced in late 2021 after years of dormancy and began seizing large swathes of North Kivu province.

But fighting with the Congolese military has intensified since early this year, in the latest chapter of the internal and cross-border violence which has dogged the eastern DRC for three decades.