The dense clouds surrounding the cone of the nyiragong volcano, one of the most active and threatening in the world, now affect the city of Goma, prey to chaos and insecurity. The capital of North Kivu – Eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – overlooking the banks of Lake Kivu, The revenue of the M23 movement was stormed, the reinforced group, made up of Tutsi ethnic militants, which for years has clashed with the regular army of the Kinshasa government. At the basis of the civil conflict, the hunts of the immense mining resources of which the Congo has. A wealth, that subsoil, which for the vast and populous country of Central Africa has always represented a precious heritage and together a condemnation, Fonte of international appetites and conflicts. The province of North Kivu, in particular, is very rich in minerals, such as pond, tungsten, colan, the rare lands refined by the electronic industry.
The Kinshasa government accuses the M23 guerrillas of wanting to control the mining areas to supply the nearby Rwanda which, according to the Congolese authorities, supports and finances the rebels. Encussed between 2012 and 2013, after years of relative calm the conflict resumed in 2021. Almost a year ago she suffered an escalation, when the rebels almost reached the gates of Goma. Since February 2024 the militants had been stationed beyond the hills, in the Sake area, about twenty kilometers from the city, after taking control of the territories (administrative divisions) of Rutshuru and Masisi (to make a throat, in particular, are Coltan di Masisi reserves).
From there it seemed that the rebels would not have dared to move, get closer to the city even more. Only a month and a half ago, in Goma, some local observers said that the militiamen had no interest in entering the city, which however was in a siege and patrolled by Monusco, the Peacekeeping mission of the United Nations in Congo. Instead, on January 23 from the hills the rebels launched a large offensive and arrived up to the city, in the northern part, conquering it on February 26. On the streets of Goma a situation of chaos was created, with clashes and violent fights Fr I rebelli and the government army and the escape of a part of the inhabitants. The border with the Rwanda was closed. From the prison of Muzenze, which housed between the three thousand and four thousand prisoners, in the confusion of the city socket there was a mass evasion. The rebels have released a document in which they ask the army soldiers to surrender.
THEThe civil conflict caused an immense humanitarian crisis: almost two million people abandoned their villages in North Kivu, taken from the rebels, almost 500 thousand are displaced in the endless fields grown on the outskirts of Goma. Overcrowded settlements, where people live in conditions of poverty, precariousness, food insecurity, poor hygienic-health conditions. For its part, the Rwandan government rejects Kinshasa’s accusations of wanting to remove minerals from the Congo. Between the two countries the tension is very high. The president of Kenya William Tuto tries to mediate between Kinshasa and Kigali to prevent the situation of conflict from degenere in an even more serious way, further worsening the humanitarian crisis that Goma is experiencing.
The bishop of Goma, Monsignor Willie Ngumbi NGengele, He issued a press release in which he asks all the parties involved in the armed conflict and the population to respect absolutely “human life and both private and public infrastructures”, asks everyone to “guarantee the protection of life and access to all basic services and to avoid sexual violence “. He also ensured the whole population of Goma “the closeness and compassion of the Catholic Church”, in particular “to the wounded and families of the victims”.
(Photo Ansa: displaced people fleeing from Goma to Rwanda)
