A rebel alliance spearheaded by the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 militia said it had seized the lakeside city of more than 2 million people, a hub for displaced people and aid groups lying on the border with Rwanda and last occupied by M23 in Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance that includes the M23, told Reuters his forces controlled the city. His claim could not be independently verified amid conflicting accounts of the situation as the sound of explosions, heavy artillery and gunfire resounded all day.
The speaker of Congo's national assembly, Vital Kamerhe, said a military assessment found that government troops and pro-government militias still held some positions. He said President Felix Tshisekedi would address the nation on the matter, without giving a date. The M23 said earlier on Monday that it had taken control of the offices of Congo's national broadcaster in Goma, and two employees there confirmed the information.
At a briefing in New York, the senior U. One Goma resident told Reuters he had seen men in Rwandan army uniforms on Monday. I saw soldiers dressed in brand new Rwandan uniforms," the resident of central Goma said.
Greg Ramm, country director for the Save the Children humanitarian organization in Congo, told an online briefing: "On any given moment, we have reports that neighbourhoods are calm. A few minutes later, we hear reports of new shelling. Congo accused Rwanda of sending troops into its territory, while Rwanda said fighting near the border threatened its own security.
Rwanda's army said Congolese shelling had killed five people and injured 26 in the town of Rubavu near the border. Congolese soldiers on Mount Goma, a hill within the city, exchanged artillery fire with Rwandan troops on the other side of the border in the town of Gisenyi, according to two U. In the first indication of civilian casualties in the fighting, Save the Children officials said an explosive device had fallen on a camp for displaced people in Goma on Sunday. Artillery fire also struck a maternity hospital, killing and injuring civilians, including newborns and pregnant women, Lemarquis said.
