GOMA- Three South African peacekeepers have been killed in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting intensified today January 25th 2025 between the Congolese army and Rwandan-backed M23 fighters.
Heavy fighting has raged on in the region despite calls from the international community for the M23 to halt its advance on Goma, the key city in the east and home to over 2 million people.
This comes after the failure of Angolan-led Peace talks, and the M23 and the Rwandan army have advanced in recent weeks towards Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province in Democratic Republic Congo’s perennially restive and mineral-rich territory.
A witness, who asked not to be named, saw a burned-out, smoking armoured vehicle of the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO on the road between Goma and Sake, which was the scene of intense fighting in recent days.
Shops remained open in Goma on Saturday and day-to-day activity appeared normal despite artillery detonations in the distance that resonated as far as the city centre and intense fighting has been raging since Thursday on several fronts less than 10 kilometres (6 miles) around the virtually besieged city.
The European Union has however urged the M23 to halt its advance and withdraw immediately and want Rwanda to cease its support for the M23 and withdraw from Democratic Republic of Congo territory.
The European Union Foreign Policy Chief Ms Kaja Kallas said that the EU strongly condemns Rwanda’s military presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a clear violation of international law, the UN charter and the territorial integrity.
“The city of Goma is under immense pressure. The threat by M23 to conquer Goma is unacceptable and has in itself grave humanitarian and security consequences on the ground,” she said.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco who was appointed mediator by the African Union in the crisis between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, denounced what he called irresponsible actions by the M23 and its supporters which would have now become harmful consequences for regional security.
Meanwhile the United Nations has begun to evacuate “non-essential” staff from Goma to neighbouring Uganda and the capital City Kinshasa, while Britain, the United States and France have asked their citizens to leave Goma immediately.
The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) said its Quick Reaction Forces have been actively engaged in intense combat over the past 48 hours, as MONUSCO’s heavy artillery has conducted firing missions against M23 positions.
The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has about 15,000 peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo including South Africa which confirmed that three South African military peacekeepers had been killed and 18 injured in the fighting when M23 rebels attacked Sake.
The UN Security Council has since called an emergency meeting to take place on Monday to discuss the crisis after the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was “alarmed” by a resurgence of violence that could aggravate the risk of a regional war.
A number of people injured in the fighting around Goma since Thursday last week have been treated by medical teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Goma and according to the UN, 400,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since the beginning of January.
Goma is at the epicentre of the violence that has rocked Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for 30 years and the M23 briefly occupied the City at the end of 2012, but the Congolese army, with the support of MONUSCO and diplomatic pressure from the international community on Rwanda, recaptured the city shortly after.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis have so far failed and in December 2024, a meeting between Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi Thilombo and Rwandan President Paul Kagame as part of an Angola-led peace process was cancelled due to lack of pre-agreement.
According to the UN, the M23 is supported by 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers deployed in the east and the Democratic Republic of Congo accuses Rwanda of wanting to seize the riches of eastern Congo, which the Kigali government has vehemently denied.
However, Turkey which very active on the African continent has now offered to lead a Democratic Republic of Congo-Rwanda mediation, but a dozen ceasefires and truces have already been declared in the region, then broken and the last ceasefire was signed at the end of July last year.
Additional Reporting from Associated Press.
