GOMA: After a brief period of calm, clashes have reignited between government forces and M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), leaving eight UN peacekeepers wounded, the United Nations reported.
The attack occurred on Saturday in Sake, a strategic town located 20 kilometers west of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. UN mission head Bintou Keita described one of the peacekeepers as “gravely wounded” in the assault.
Witnesses confirmed the resumption of fighting in the area on Saturday, following several days of relative quiet. However, by midday Sunday, a tentative calm had returned to the region.
According to a Congolese security source, the UN soldiers sustained injuries when two M23 shells struck their camp in Sake’s Mubambiro district. The source explained that M23 had launched shelling on the town after an attack by the “Wazalendo” militia supportive of the Congolese army.
Govt Forces and Rebels Clashes in DR Congo
The Tutsi-led M23 movement initiated a new offensive two weeks ago, extending its control northwards in the Rutshuru and Masisi territory, approximately 70 kilometers from Goma.
UN Secretary-General’s special representative in the DRC, Bintou Keita, stated that the peacekeepers had been deployed in North Kivu for several weeks under Operation Springbok, collaborating with the army in joint operations.
Lieutenant-Colonel Guillaume Ndjike, the province’s army spokesman, accused Rwandan forces of targeting the UN position at Sake during the clashes.
The UN troop presence in the DRC, numbering 15,000, began to withdraw at the end of February at the request of the Kinshasa government, deeming them ineffective. The withdrawal is scheduled to conclude by the end of the year.
The M23 rebellion, dormant for eight years, resurfaced in late 2021, seizing significant territories in North Kivu. The conflict has resulted in tens of thousands of displacements, with nearly seven million people estimated to be displaced in the DR Congo, including 2.5 million in North Kivu alone, according to UN figures.
