An intensifying conflict between Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) army and the Tutsi-led M23 rebels, allegedly backed by Rwanda, has disrupted food supplies to the eastern city of Goma, affecting over two million residents and displaced individuals.
Clashes have escalated since the start of the year in towns and villages around the provincial capital as rebels seized territory, forcing thousands to seek refuge in the city.
The use of heavy artillery and shelling has killed dozens, and hospitals in Goma have struggled to cope with the influx of injured civilians.
The United Nations (UN) and other aid agencies have warned that the fighting risks worsening the humanitarian crisis in the eastern Congo region, where more than five million people have been displaced in the four provinces of the region due to conflicts.
The government of Congo, UN officials and Western powers have accused Rwanda of supporting the resurgent rebels who claim to defend ethnic Tutsi interests against Hutu militias whose leaders participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
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Rwanda has refuted the claims.
The United States urged Rwanda on Saturday to immediately withdraw all of its military personnel from Congo and remove surface-to-air missile systems, saying these threatened the lives of civilians, UN and other regional peacekeepers, humanitarian workers, and commercial flights in eastern Congo.
With the rebels advancing towards the town of Sake, approximately 25 kilometres west of Goma, the city now relies on scant food supplies brought in by canoes from villages around Lake Kivu.—Reuters
