From Sunday, Dr. At least 700 killed in Congo fight – United Nations

The United Nations says that at least 700 people have been killed in an intensive fight in Goma, the largest city of Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since Sunday.

United Nations spokesman Stephen Dusarric said 2,800 people were injured, as the M23 rebel – supported by Rwanda – captured the capital of North Kivu province.

The rebels are now reported to be south towards Bukevu, the capital of South Kivu.

Eastern Dr. The conflict in the Congo is from the 1990s, but has increased rapidly in recent weeks.

M23, which is made of ethnic tutis, says that they are fighting for minority rights, while Dr. The Congo government says that the Rwanda-supported rebels are demanding control over the huge mineral funds in the eastern region.

On Friday, Duzerric said that the casualties of the casualties by the World Health Organization and its partners between Sunday and Thursday, Dr. Came from an assessment made with the Congo government.

The United Nations spokesperson also warned that the toll of death would increase further.

According to the AFP news agency, in an attempt to prevent the progress of M23, the DR Congo Army has installed a defensive line on the road between Goma and Bukavu.

Hundreds of citizen volunteers have been listed to protect Bukevu.

A young man told AFP: “I am ready to die for my country.”

Jean -Jacks Purusi Sadirani, Governor of South Kivu – is marching on Province M23 – Reuters News Agency reported that the government army and its allies were withdrawing the rebels, although the claim has not been verified independently.

Earlier this week, M23 vowed to continue its aggressive until it reached Kinshhasa, about 2,600 km (1,600 mi) in the west.

The country’s Foreign Minister Theres Kayikavamba Wagner told the BBC that Rwanda was illegally occupying his country and attempting to change governance.

Wagner said that the international community had allowed Rawandan president Paul Kagame for decades of impurity and failed to justify him for violating international law.

Rwanda’s government spokesman Yolande Makollo denied the allegation, saying that the soldiers of the country were only deployed to stop the struggle in their region.

“We are not interested in war, we are not interested in anxation, we are not interested in the change of governance,” Mako told the BBC newsday program.

United Nations experts estimated last year that Rwanda had worked with 3,000 and 4,000 soldiers with M23 in East DR Congo.

On Friday, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional block declared its support for DR Congo at a crisis summit in Zimbabwe.

In a statement, the 16-member group “confirmed its solidarity and unwavering commitment to support DRC in search of the safety of their freedom, sovereignty and regional integrity.

SADC mainly from South Africa, Dr. The Congo has been sent to the Peacekeeping soldiers to compete with armed groups such as M23 and to restore peace in the mineral-rich region after decades of decades.

Sixteen soldiers from southern African countries have been killed in a conflict with M3 around Goma in the last week.

The fight gave Eastern Dr. Humanitarian crisis in the Congo has also been spoiled.

Shelley Thakaral of the United Nations World Food Program said that the residents of the city were running out of food, clean water and medical supply.

The AFP said, “The supply chain is really strangled if you think about the reach, air access when everything stops,” he told AFP.

According to the United Nations refugee agency, since the beginning of 2025, more than 400,000 people have been forced from their homes.

Dr. Congo is the second largest country in Africa – about two -thirds of Western Europe -sized – and nine different countries have borders.

During the 1990s, the previous struggles in the country were attracted to many neighbors and were dubbed in the World War of Africa.