Den congolesiske oprørsgruppe M23 har erobret hovedbyen i den mineral- og ressourcerige østlige del af det afrikanske kæmpeland – frygt for at konflikten også snart vil involvere flere af DR Congos ni nabostater.
Some crowds reportedly shouted “welcome” and “thank you” as M23 leader Sultani Makenga and hundreds of his fighters entered Goma, which has a population of about one million.
The rebels met little resistance from the congolese army or UN peacekeepers. The leaders of DR Congo and Rwanda, Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame, flew to Uganda for talks, amid claims that Rwanda was backing the rebels, BBC online reportsTuesday.
France called for the UN Security Council to strengthen the peacekeepers’ mandate to intervene in the conflict.
A senior rebel commander said that if the government refused to enter into talks, they would carry on to Bukavu, another major city in eastern DR Congo.
Goma lies right on the border of Rwanda and DR Congo and is a vibrant commercial centre with a functioning infrastructure supporting banks, academic institutions, hospitals and a base for the UN peacekeeping force.
The city is home to a massive trade in minerals from the resource-rich region, while its airport serves the whole of eastern DR Congo.
It is nearly impossible to access eastern DR Congo by road from the capital, Kinshasa, making it difficult for the government to exercise proper control of the region.
Militarily, Goma is also strategic for tiny Rwanda because it provides a buffer zone against ethnic Hutu rebel groups who fled there after the 1994 genocide (folkedrab).
The UN said it had received reports that the rebels had abducted women and children from Goma. Aid agencies say tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in the last five days as conflict escalated.
This is the first time since the war officially ended in 2003 that rebels have entered Goma.
Some five million people died in the DR Congo war, which dragged in neighbouring states – including Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola.
Mere om, at 200.000 børn menes i fare efter rebellernes fremstød på http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96833/DRC-Fall-of-Goma-puts-200-000-children-at-risk
