Following a lightning onslaught, the rebel forces of M23 movement allegedly backed by Rwanda took control of nearly the whole city of Goma, a vital hub for the trade of minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in late January 2025.

M23 Rebels Seize Goma Airport, Threatening Humanitarian Aid in Eastern DRC, UN Spokesman Says

17:39, 29 January 2025

Elizaveta Roschina

Writer/Editor

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At least 100 people were reportedly killed and around 1,000 injured in the violent fighting in the Goma city of the DRC's North Kivu province in recent days. Hospitals in the city are overwhelmed and struggling to cope with the influx of the wounded, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

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The M23 rebels seized Goma's international airport in the North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), spokesman for UN secretary-general Stephane Dujarric, told reporters on Tuesday.

"Currently, as far as we know, the M23 forces control the airport, and there are real risks of a breakdown of law and order in the city, given the proliferation of weapons," the spokesman said.

While Goma is reportedly a regional humanitarian hub, hosting hundreds of thousands of people displaced by eastern Congo’s prolonged conflict, armed clashes continue in regions surrounding the city, which further displaces civilians and complicates the UN's humanitarian efforts, the spokesman noted.

"The movement of essential supplies and personnel is obviously an urgent concern. Armed clashes continue in multiple regions, including in Masisi, Rutshuru, and Nyiragongo. All those clashes are further displacing civilians and complicating our humanitarian efforts, to say the least," Dujarric said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has expressed the humanitarian community's deep concern at the escalating violence in North Kivu, which has displaced some 300,000 people from camps around Goma in just a few days.

"Our colleagues in the DRC report heavy, small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets. We have reports of rapes committed by fighters, looting of property, including of a humanitarian warehouse, and humanitarian and health facilities being hit," OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said.

Key information on the escalating situation in the eastern DRC:

A biolaboratory in Goma, which the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) fears could leak viruses, is funded by the US; this shows the West's irresponsibility, Russia's human welfare watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said;

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi will not attend a meeting with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame convened by the East African Community, the DRC presidency reportedly said;

Several airline companies announced the suspension of flights to the DRC capital Kinshasa due to the ongoing unrest;

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to both the Congolese and Rwandan presidents and urged them to protect civilians;

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said he had a productive discussion with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and admitted the need for a ceasefire;

The fighting in North Kivu has displaced more than 500,000 people since the beginning of January, Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said;

The African Union called on the M23 armed group operating in eastern DRC to lay down their arms and engage in a ceasefire;

An emergency summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the worsening situation in the DRC will be held on Thursday in the capital of Zimbabwe, a report said;

The M23 rebels launched an offensive on the South Kivu province's capital, Bukavu, in eastern DRC, reports said;

All planned demonstrations in the DRC's capital, Kinshasa, have been suspended since Wednesday, following Tuesday's attacks on several diplomatic missions, Kinshasa Governor Daniel Bumba said;

The government of the DRC has taken measures to ensure the security of foreign embassies and diplomatic missions in the country’s capital, Kinshasa, the DRC Foreign Ministry said;

Russia condemns actions by the M23 rebel group in the DRC and calls for the withdrawal of the group's fighters from captured areas of the country, Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said.