Tracking - Can the Congo Ceasefire Hold?

by Michael Bear · 2008-11-06 23:11:00 UTC
Topics:

[Situation in the camps around Goma, as well as in Ituri - Footage from UNICEF]

At the risk of being redundant - or stating the obvious - not a pleasant day in the eastern Congo:

- First, as always, the good news - the ceasefire around Goma continues to hold.

- Now, the not-so-good news.  On Thursday rebel forces under Laurent Nkunda attacked the Congolese Army north of Goma, capturing the towns of Nyanzale and Kikuku.

According to a UN spokesman: "They have taken Nyanzale and Kikuku, therefore breaking their own declared ceasefire. Now it's clear they are trying to have a territory completely under their control."

The UN reported that thousands of civilians fled the fighting.

- There are also reports that the rebels massacred at least a dozen people in Kiwanja, though the number of casulaties might be higher.  The massacre follows a battle on Wednesday between the rebels and a pro-Government militia in the area.

More information below:

Reuters spoke to one local resident, who said his wife and child were killed during the massacre in Kiwanja: "They knocked on the doors, when the people opened, they killed them with their guns."

- According to the most recent OCHA Humanitarian Situation Update (November 6th), a total of 252,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since September.

Food distributions are currently ongoing at the following camps: Buhimba (10,836 people), Bulengo (16,467), Kibati (65,900), Mugunga I (12,269), Mugunga II (10,550), and Nzulo (5,000).

- Finally, it's not as though Nkunda's forces are the only problem.  Further north, battles between the Lord's Resistance Army - a Ugandan rebel movement - and the Congolese Army in Ituri Province have caused an estimated 67,000 people to flee their homes since September.

This includes 17,000 who fled during fighting in September, as well as at least 50,000 who fled fighting near the town of Dungu in early November.

Some aid agencies have also had to evacuate the area.

For a detailed map of the eastern Congo, showing flash-points around Goma and in Ituri, see here.

Michael Bear
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