Stress calm, M23 Fear for the future in Goma of DRC, a week after acquiring. Conflict news

On a road west of Goma, Mary Ashuja and her children, the largest city of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), moved, took their last remaining items with them.

In the 40s, a five -year -old farmer and mother, Asuza, fled to North Kivu in the neighboring South Kivu province in the mid -January, after the Rwanda -backed M33 rebels, there were advanced and violent clashes between the armed group and the congregation army. .

“DRC armed forces installed heavy artillery in my village in Minova. I was being slaughtered to a neighboring family. So I ran here for Goma, ”she told Al Jazira.

Family ended in one of the huge camps for displaced people, but a week ago after the troops of the movement (M23), a week ago, flocking in the city, claiming control, he participated again with thousands of others. Went.

First, she lived with one of the host families of the local community who opened their doors to fellow citizens. But he has since decided to leave Goma for good – due to broadly assistance and lack of assistance.

The United Nations, aid bodies and rights groups say that the recent increase of the fight has disrupted the essential work of human agencies in the DRC.

The destruction of sites for internally displaced individuals (IDPs) also forced several to return to its original places, with at least 100,000 IDPs in the last week. The witnesses said that some camps are now emptying people.

Now many of those returning home from Goma were forced to flee their towns and villages. Some were afraid of being caught in a crossfire; Others feared abuses made by the rebels, the army and his friendly countries. Some residents said that they saw looting, rape and firing.

“I left Mount Goma (area of ​​the city) to the port of Goma. I suspected that the enemy was moving fast towards the city. This is a very dangerous place, “a woman said, the wife of a Kangoli army soldier, who was making her way with the children through the center of Goma, is afraid that she would be targeted by the M23 soldiers.

M23 acquisition

On Sunday, January 26, 2025, it was late under the dark cover, when the M23 fighters made their way in Goma, after a deep fight which made them stand against the Kangoli army and its colleagues.

Outbreaks video broadcast online shows men’s pillars in military apparel, which are usually not seen in some parts of the city.

M23 released a communication that announced that the city’s “liberation” was “successful”.

Despite some resistance from the Kangoli Army and the concerned Wazelando militia, till Thursday, Goma M3 was under control, the rebels moved south towards Bukevu, the capital of South Kivu, and to march for Kinshasa, the capital of DRC, the capital of DRC Promised. ,

The M23, which emerged for the first time in 2012, was re -defeated in 2022, until it seized the area in the Eastern DRC, causing a major displacement crisis.

United Nations experts claim that the M23 is supported by thousands of soldiers from neighboring Rwanda, who says Kinshasa says that DRC is trying to reduce resources from the mineral-rich eastern region of DRC. Rwanda denied the allegations that it is a sponsor of the M23.

Since M23 claimed Goma on 26 January, according to officials, more than 700 people have been killed and around 3,000 were injured.

According to some of its residents, the city became the “true center” of human despair last week.

One of the most densely populated areas of Goma, Kubua Chainline, a resident of Nedosho district, said, “Everything has come for a stay in the city.”

“We do not know which path to change and what will happen to our future, which was already dark due to the city surrounded.”

Power cuts and loot

As the fight took place, the internet was cut, and therefore electricity and water supply. Shops and business were also closed.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, some residents looted – many out of frustration.

A warehouse of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), which is located a few km (1.2 mi) from the city Goma, was broken and all food and non-food items were taken.

In the southeastern of Goma, in the Kasero district, the office of the Public Prosecutor was demolished and all documents were included in the western outskirts of the city.

Amuri Upendo, a resident of Goma, who participated in the looting, said he excluded from existence.

“We are in the time of war, and anything goes bad. I had nothing to eat, I gave shelter to five displaced people and when I heard that the world food program was being looted, I left to get my parcel, ”he said, revealing that then There was a stampede in the warehouse, due to which some were caused by deaths.

“I noticed that three people fall from the shelves and lose their lives during the looting scenes. This really hurt me, ”he said.

A week after Goma’s possession, now with the M32, the power and internet connection, which was cut for days, returned most of the city in most of the city.

Many shops in the city center also opened again. Food products were on shelves, but some goods prices doubled or even three times.

“I am asking the new officials that they can do everything to stabilize the situation here,” said Julien Anafa, the mother of seven shopping in the Alnin Market in Goma. “We buy various products at a high price. And it is economically affecting us at this time of war. ,

At a press conference in Goma on Thursday, the coordinator of Alliance Flave Congo (AFC), Cornillill Nude, which has an M3, assured the residents of the city that life would soon become normal.

In other places, the families of those who lost their lives in the week of violence were planning to bury their loved ones.

‘I’m going back home’

Although the Kangoli army and its allies lost control of the city, and a stressful calm now surrounds it, not all residents of Goma are worried.

For his share, the residents who spoke to Al Jazira started falling into three main camps. Some said that they feel relieved because now there is a low military appearance and the city has less militant experiences that have been on tentorous for months as the rebels flew up and displaced people from other parts to the city.

Other residents have simply decided to accept what happened, realizing that they cannot change their position, so they can also work within the system ruled by new occupiers of the city.

However, the third group is more frightened – fearing that Kinshasa has promised a retaliation to resume Goma once again as national authorities, a new attack will be only in the number of more casualties.

For many residents, who matters the most is making peace and calm ensure.

Faraj Joseph, the father of five, said, “It does not matter who controls the city, the most important thing for me is that I be able to live in security, walk … and there is a little money for my family . “

The Kangoli government has vowed to resume the control of Goma, but experts and locals are worried that the city is worried that the city’s strange place – close to an active volcano, on the banks of Kivu Lake, and next to the Rawandan border – military It will be difficult to get it. ,

World and regional leaders have condemned the acquisition of M23, and Rwanda’s alleged participation urges a diplomatic solution to the dialogue, the rights groups say that the rights groups say that there is a “human destruction”. The United Nations has also accused both the M33 and the Congoles army of violation of serious human rights.

Meanwhile, as the fight and high-level diplomacy continues, citizens in Eastern DRC seem to continue to search for elusive security.

For thousands of displaced displaced people who were running on the streets of Goma, running away from old camps and host communities, yet, from where they come, they often give the only consolation that they can find.

“I am going back to my village.” He said, “I like to die in my family and my land, in Minawa, instead of dying (here in Goma),” he said, “His children are carrying kitchen equipment and other items, one of them Without shoes on his feet, as he continued the Masi region and beyond.