DRC: M23 rebels took control of the town of Nyanzale, north of Goma

On Wednesday, a new city north of Goma in the DRC passed into the hands of the M23 rebels, supported by Rwanda.

The Battle of Nyanzale led to significant population movements in the area.

According to the UN, at the end of 2023, the DRC had nearly 7 million displaced people, fleeing violence.

Here, residents of Rutshuru flee M23 attacks, in October 2023. (Illustrative image).

© Alexis Huguet / AFP

By: RFI Follow

Advertisement

Read more

The clashes lasted a little more than two days in this area of ​​Rutshuru territory, north of Goma, in the

Democratic Republic of Congo

.

The city of Nyanzale therefore passed on Wednesday March 6 into the sphere of influence of the M23 rebels, supported by Rwanda.

Fights which pitted them against

the Congolese armed forces allied with pro-government militias, the Wazalendo, reports our correspondent in Goma,

Coralie Pierret

.

The battle resulted in the death of at least 15 civilians, according to a report established by AFP. 

“ 

Bombs fell on residents

 ,” Ombeni Gasiga, president of Nyanzale civil society, told AFP.

“ 

The entire population is fleeing towards Kikuku (towards the north)

 ,” he added, before also leaving the town.

Large population displacement

The press agency also mentions an internal report from MONUSCO, the United Nations mission in the DRC, in which the M23 is accused of having fired

mortar 

shells at a camp for displaced persons a few kilometers from Nyanzale, "

injuring twelve civilians including five who succumbed to their injuries

 ,” specifies the report. 

These bombings and fighting led to a significant displacement of the population and caused the flight of " 

more than 100,000

people

 ", Ocha, the UN humanitarian coordination agency, said on Wednesday, cited by AFP.

Populations who fled a little further north towards the area controlled by the government.

Among them, some were

already displaced people having fled

previous clashes.

During a press conference Wednesday morning in Goma, the director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Robert Mardini, visiting North Kivu, considered the situation in the region “ 

extremely worrying

 ”.

Also read: “We lost everything we had”: testimony from Congolese refugees at the Nakivale camp in Uganda

(

And with

AFP)

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your inbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Share :

Continue reading on the same themes:

• DRC

• M23

• Human rights