The United Nations on Monday warned of the "extremely worrying" humanitarian situation in the besieged city of Goma, as it seeks to protect civilians caught in the Congolese army's clash with pro-Rwandan forces there.
The United Nations on Monday warned of the "extremely worrying" humanitarian situation in the besieged city of Goma, as it seeks to protect civilians caught in the Congolese army's clash with pro-Rwandan forces there.
"The humanitarian situation in and around Goma is extremely, extremely worrying," Bruno Lemarquis, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), told reporters.
He said a "new threshold of violence and suffering" had been reached Monday, "as active zones of combat have spread to all neighborhoods of the city."
Lemarquis described the situation in Goma as "chaotic," noting a maternity hospital in the city was hit with artillery shells, killing newborns and pregnant women, as fighting continues between the military and the M23 armed group, backed by Rwandan soldiers.
He said hundreds of thousands of people were attempting to flee the violence.
Goma, a city of some one million people, already had around 700,000 internally displaced people living on its outskirts in what Lemarquis described as "dire" conditions.
He warned of internet and power outages, a lack of running water, and hospitals overwhelmed with the influx of wounded civilians.
On Sunday, the UN Security Council called for the withdrawal of aggressive "external forces" from DR Congo but stopped short of explicitly naming them.
Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner on Monday expressed "dismay" at what she said was a vague statement.
"My government legitimately expected immediate and determined action from the Council," she said, including "putting an end to the escalation."
That would include "clearly identifying the Rwandan aggressor and holding them responsible for the ongoing carnage," she said in a letter written in French to the Council.
"My government notes with dismay that the Security Council has instead contented itself with a simple, vague and indecisive statement," she added.
The M23 offensive in Goma comes at a time when the region is already undergoing "one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on earth," with almost 6.5 million displaced people throughout the DRC, including three million in North Kivu, Lemarquis said.
Given the circumstances, the UN began evacuating its non-essential civilian staff from Goma to the capital Kinshasa and the Entebbe base in Uganda.
"We have to focus on what is the immediate objective, which is to bring about a secession of these hostilities in Goma and to protect lives," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of the UN's peacekeeping operations, at the same press conference.
Although peacekeepers from the UN's MONUSCO mission were engaged in combat against the M23 group a few days prior, the "changed dynamics" caused them to rethink strategy.
"The priorities are first and foremost to protect our UN colleagues," Lacroix said, adding that the MONUSCO facilities have become a safe haven for "both civilians and unarmed fighters."
© Agence France-Presse
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