Demokratische Republik Kongo

UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Friday expressed profound concerns at the ongoing violent escalation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) caused by the ongoing Rwanda-backed M23 offensive. “If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s borders,” he told a Special Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Continued clashes in South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are triggering mass displacement and causing civilian casualties, UN humanitarian affairs office OCHA said on Friday.  Escalating fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese troops has caused thousands of people to flee, with many heading towards the provincial capital, Bukavu – where UN humanitarian agencies in the east are now located following the fall of Goma.

[…] The Malawian troops are part of the southern African regional bloc's military mission (SAMIDRC) deployed to DR Congo to help tackle armed groups. At least 20 peacekeepers, including 14 South Africans and three Malawians, were killed as the M23 rebels captured the key city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, last week.

A senior U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday that nearly 3,000 people have been killed in a fighting between M23 militants and the national army over control of a key eastern city.

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels continued to consolidate their hold over North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday, despite declaring a ceasefire two days earlier and pledging not to continue south, according to the UN’s Deputy Special Representative for Protection and Operations in the country. … Amid mounting insecurity, MONUSCO has ceased joint operations with Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and withdrawn from South Kivu, following Security Council mandates.

Tanzania will host a joint summit of two regional blocs to which the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) belongs, signaling a new step to try and find common ground on the crisis caused by a war between M23 rebels and the Congolese army.

Recent events in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with the fall of North Kivu’s capital, Goma, as a provisional low, are inscribed in a decades-long evolution.

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has vowed to restore government authority in the east, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized control of the city of Goma and are reportedly advancing south to take more territory. … He criticised the international community for "inaction" and for not doing enough in the wake of the escalating security crisis.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame said he agreed with the U.S. government on the need for a ceasefire in eastern Congo but gave no indication of bowing to calls for Rwandan troops and the M23 rebels they support to withdraw from Goma.

As the Security Council convened an emergency meeting for the second time in three days to address the worsening situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a senior United Nations official warned that escalating attacks by the 23 March Movement, or M23, continue to kill civilians and peacekeeping personnel in and around the city of Goma.