"Total Panic" in Congo as Rebels Continue to Advance

by Michael Bear · 2008-10-28 16:09:00 UTC
Topics:

[Civilians flee the fighting in Congo - Photo from MSNBC / AFP]

Rebel forces under Laurent Nkunda continue to advance on Goma as Congolese and UN troops retreat.  The fighting has caused an estimated 100,000 Conglese to flee their homes over the past few days.

A BBC video shows fleeing civilians throwing stones at UN troops, who have so far been unable to protect them.  (To see the video, click here.)

In more news:

- The rebels seem to have taken Kibumbu, 30 kilometers north of Goma.

- According to the UN: "UNHCR staff in Goma are struggling to prepare for the arrival of an estimated 30,000 displaced people forced to flee camps and villages to the north of the city."  To that end, UNHCR has sent a team to Kibati, 11 kilometers north of Goma, to try and prepare for the people fleeing from Kibumbu.  Kibati already holds 15,000 displaced persons.

- The rebels are also fighting 100 kilometers north of Goma, pushing towards Rutshuru.  There are roughly 55,000 people living in the town, as well as an estimated 60,000 displaced persons already in the area.

- According to a local Congolese official: "There is total panic in town. The fighting is now around 5 kilometers from Rutshuru." MSF staff in Rutshuru report that "the population is fleeing north."

- A UN attempt to evacuate around fifty aid workers caught in Rutshuru failed amidst heavy fighting.  According to an article in today's New York Times:

"[T]he attempt to evacuate roughly 50 aid workers trapped in the battle zone deep in the forest was halted after furious villagers attacked the armed convoy and blocked the road, United Nations officials said. In the melee, even Congolese government forces fired on the convoy, officials said."

- There are also rumors that retreating Congolese forces in Rutshuru have looted and stolen NGO vehicles, leaving staff there with no way to leave on their own.

- Overall, the World Food Program reports that the fighting has made it too dangerous to distribute food in rural areas.  According to one UNHCR official:

"We simply cannot send teams out into the countryside. There's too much fighting going on; it's too dangerous; it's anarchy."

- The New York Times reports that aid operations have also apparently stopped within Goma itself, due to "the level of anti-UN hostility".

To see a map of the area (courtesy of the BBC), click here.

For more information about who's fighting who, and why, please see my co-blogger Michelle's post on the background to the current conflict.

Michael Bear
PREVIOUS STORY:
Somalia - Two Steps Forward, Two Back
NEXT STORY:
Campaign about Apple Factories in China Gains Wide and Diverse Support

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.