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DRC Rebels Seize Key Eastern City

November 20, 2012

by VOA News

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have seized control of Goma, a key provincial capital on the border with Rwanda.

Reports from the eastern Congolese city say fighters of rebel group M23 entered the city Tuesday, meeting almost no resistance. Congolese army troops, which were fighting the rebels, have fled the city.

The 1,500 U.N. peacekeepers in the area did not stop M23 from entering the city, prompting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Paris to call for a review of the peacekeepers' mandate.

The U.N. Department of Peacekeeping says its forces remain in control of the Goma airport, and that 17 "quick reaction" teams are patrolling the city to protect civilians.

The U.N. also says it received reports that rebel fighters have wounded and kidnapped civilians, are destroying property, and are intimidating those who try to resist their control.

In a televised address Tuesday, Congolese President Joseph Kabila said the DRC "is facing a difficult situation."

The government says it will not negotiate with M23 unless the talks involve Rwanda, which it accuses of giving military support to the rebels. Rwanda denies that accusation.

DRC Information Minister Lambert Mende told VOA on Tuesday that sanctions against Rwanda are necessary to bring an end to the fighting.

"To stop this aggression, you have to stop the hands of aggressors," he said. "There is not two ways of doing it. They must stop Rwanda, and the only way of stopping Rwanda is sanctions against Rwanda."

The French ambassador to the U.N., Gerard Araud, said Monday that France will introduce a resolution condemning M23 and calling for sanctions against the rebel group's leaders.

Rwandan news agencies say the Congolese army fired into Rwanda's Gisenyi Sector late Monday, killing at least two people and injuring several others.

The U.N. says about 1 million people are in Goma, many of them displaced from other areas by earlier fighting between the army and M23.

The city is capital of mineral-rich North Kivu province, where the government and U.N. peacekeepers have tried to subdue local rebel and militia groups for years.

The United Nations said Monday that peacekeepers will stay in the Goma area to protect civilians, but that non-essential personnel will leave the city.

Kabila on Tuesday went to Uganda for talks with President Yoweri Museveni. The DRC and U.N. experts have accused Uganda of also supporting M23. Uganda denies the charge and has threatened to pull its peacekeepers from international missions, including the one in Somalia, unless the accusations are withdrawn.