Gunshots rang out Sunday night in the centre of the besieged Congolese city of Goma, AFP journalists heard, after the Democratic Republic of Congo accused Rwanda of sending fresh troops across the border to capture the strategic hub.After nightfall, large explosions could be heard across the capital of the mineral-rich North Kivu province. Fighters from the Kigali-backed M23 Movement have been locked in fighting with the Congolese army at the gates of the city.Accusing Rwanda of issuing a “declaration of war” by sending more troops over the border, the DRC called for the United Nations to impose sanctions on its neighbour for its hand in helping the M23 close in on Goma.Already backed by several thousand Rwandan soldiers, the M23 has in recent days advanced against Congolese troops defending the city.Around a dozen foreign peacekeepers have been killed in the escalating clashes, and UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on Kigali to pull its armed forces out of the country — a call rejected by Rwanda.In a statement Sunday, Rwanda’s foreign ministry said it had to have a “sustained defensive posture” because of the fighting near its border with DRCongo.- A ‘frontal assault’ -At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council Sunday brought forward by a day in response to the crisis, Kinshasa’s top diplomat warned that fresh Rwandan troops were pouring over the border “in an open and deliberate violation of our national sovereignty.”This is a frontal assault, a declaration of war that no longer hides behind diplomatic artifice,” said Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner.Between 500 and 1,000 Rwandan soldiers arrived on Sunday to reinforce the M23 near Goma, UN sources told AFP.Kayikwamba urged the UN body — the only UN institution with the power to impose binding resolutions on its members — to “impose targeted sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans” on Rwandan officials in response. Rwanda rejected suggestions of withdrawing from the eastern DRC in a foreign ministry statement Sunday.”This fighting close to the Rwandan border continues to present a serious threat to Rwanda’s security and territorial integrity, and necessitates Rwanda’s sustained defensive posture,” said the statement.It accused “various parties” of issuing “misguided or manipulative statements” and argued the conflict was triggered by ceasefire violations by the Congolese army.- Mineral export ban -Both the DRC and Rwanda have withdrawn their diplomats from each other’s capitals in a breakdown of relations.After peace talks between Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC’s Felix Tshisekedi were cancelled in mid-December, the M23 quickly advanced towards Goma.The strategic city is home to more than a million residents and nearly as many displaced people.As the fighting drew closer, new columns of displaced people arrived in the city, while a Rwandan drone struck DRC positions just a few kilometres north of Goma.Ahead of the emergency meeting UN Secretary-General Guterres on Sunday urged Rwanda “to cease support to the M23 and withdraw from DRC territory”, according to a statement by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.Up till now the UN Security Council as a whole has never named Rwanda as a party in the conflict. But a UN experts’ report said Kigali was using the M23 to secure access to the DRC’s mineral wealth, exporting it abroad for its own gain. Kinshasa’s Kayikwamba called on the Security Council to impose a “total embargo on the export of all minerals labelled as Rwandan, in particular gold”.Rwanda’s ambassador to the UN, Ernest Rwamucyo, rejected the accusations, blaming Kinshasa for the deteriorating situation and for failing to make a “genuine commitment to peace”.He also suggested that the UN peacekeepers in the DRC had joined a “coalition” seeking regime change in Rwanda.Goma was briefly occupied at the end of 2012 by the M23, or March 23 Movement, but the group withdrew after a deal.It was militarily defeated by DRC forces and the UN in 2013 but regrouped several years later. Half a dozen ceasefires and truces have already been declared and broken in the region. The last ceasefire was signed at the end of July.- Peacekeeper deaths – For more than 30 years the eastern DRC has been riven with violence, with rival armed groups and ethnic militias vying for supremacy.The central African country is also home to some 15,000 peacekeepers, many with the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or MONUSCO.On Saturday, three countries announced the deaths of a total of 13 soldiers serving as peacekeepers in the conflict zone. The dead included members of the UN forces as well as a southern African regional peacekeeping mission.Nine of the victims were from South Africa, another three were Malawian and the last one was from Uruguay.
Sun, 26 Jan 2025 21:42:45 GMT
