Bodies are lining the streets of Goma, and hospitals are overwhelmed after an escalation in the long-simmering conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Rwandan-backed M23 group claims it took control of the city, and the DRC has called it a declaration of war by Rwanda. But why is Rwanda involved and what are its interests?
Jan 30 (Reuters) - The United Nations expressed deep concern at reports of M23 rebels and Rwandan troops advancing south towards the Congolese city of Bukavu on Thursday, as the militants sought also to assert their control over east Congo's largest city Goma.
The Rwandan-backed insurgents' seizure of Goma this week and ongoing offensive southwards are the biggest escalation since 2012 of a decades-old conflict the U.N. says risks spiralling into another major regional war.
A sustained and successful push by M23 into the neighbouring province of South Kivu would see them control territory previous rebellions have not taken since the end of two major wars that ran from 1996 to 2003, in which millions of civilians died, mostly from malnutrition and disease.
The absence of U.N. peacekeepers in South Kivu heightens the humanitarian and security risks of an escalation in fighting there, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
He added that there were reports of Rwandan forces crossing the border in the direction of South Kivu's capital Bukavu. The Rwandan authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rwanda says it is defending itself, accusing Congo's military of joining forces with ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in Congo and threatening Rwanda, where Hutus targeted Tutsis in a 1994 GENO.... and some later fled to Congo.
Congo denies this and accuses Rwanda of using M23, which it describes as a "terrorist proxy of Rwanda", to pillage valuable minerals from Congolese territory. U.N. experts have documented the export of large quantities of looted minerals via Rwanda.
An international backlash against Rwanda, which has included Germany cancelling aid talks and Britain threatening to withhold 32 million pounds ($40 million) of annual bilateral assistance, was having no apparent effect on the ground.
Advancing along Lake Kivu, M23 fighters were pushed back on Wednesday from the town of Nyabibwe, some 50 km (30 miles) from Bukavu, and were clashing on Thursday with Congolese troops in the nearby location of Kahalala, according to two local sources.
"The Congolese army seems to be putting up fierce resistance there," said one of the sources, from a civil society organisation in Bukavu.
In Goma itself, M23 were presenting themselves as the city's new administrators.
"We are asking all Goma residents to go back to normal activities," Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance rebel coalition that includes M23, told reporters.
The situation in the city was far from normal, however. The streets, strewn with debris and discarded military fatigues, were mostly deserted as heavily armed M23 fighters in pick-up trucks patrolled them.
The World Health Organization said over 2,000 people had been wounded by recent fighting in and around Goma with at least 45 deaths registered so far, citing reports.
"The security situation seems to be stabilising, although there are still reports of skirmishes in some parts of town," said Doctors Without Borders (MSF) programme manager Natalia Torrent.
Rebel leader Nangaa said the M23 was not going anywhere. "We are here in Goma to stay. "We are going to continue the march until Kinshasa," he said, referring to Congo's capital more than 1,600 km away.
The violence has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee multiple times. Displacement camps around Goma that were hosting around 800,000 people are emptying out, World Food Programme official Cynthia Jones said.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday described the crisis as a "very serious problem," but declined to say whether the United States had a peace plan.
Thursday saw a flurry of diplomatic activity, including a meeting of East African heads of state and a visit to Kinshasa and Kigali by France's foreign minister.
Nevertheless, both Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame made uncompromising statements.
Tshisekedi said in an address to the nation that Congo's army would "reconquer every inch of our territory" and accused Rwanda and its "M23 puppets" of "a terrorist enterprise on our soil, sowing terror and desolation among our population".
Kagame has long lambasted Tshisekedi for what he describes as Congo's harbouring of Hutu "genocidaires".
He also lashed out at South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa for saying in a post on X that the fighting in Congo, in which 13 South African soldiers have died since last week, was due to an escalation by the M23 and the Rwandan army.
Kagame accused South African forces of working alongside a militia in Congo with ties to perpetrators of the 1994 GENO.... and "threatening to take the war to Rwanda itself".
"If South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day," Kagame wrote.
Since the fall of Goma, Rwanda has also reacted angrily to calls for restraint from Western nations, accusing its critics of "victim-blaming" and turning a blind eye to what it says is Congo's complicity in the slaughter of Tutsis.
I don’t know why I see this Army called M23 is more professional in everything they’re doing
我不明白為什么我看到M23軍隊(duì)在他們所做的事情上顯得更專(zhuān)業(yè)。
This man is stating so much facts, it’s just unfortunate that most people don’t accept truth easily hence why some people are dismissive to his comments
Where is our army (DRC), and why are they not capable of pushing back the M23 rebels? Corrupted government and lack of self governance in the DRC that's the problem. Once we solve this issue and then we can deal with other issues.
Congo is for Africa first, all African countries should support Congo.
剛果只是第一個(gè),所有非洲國(guó)家都應(yīng)該支持剛果
M23 are Congolese fighting for their rights
M23是為他們的權(quán)利而戰(zhàn)的剛果人。
Discuss the real cause of the conflict and not about mines and minerals and who is supporting who. Congolese Authorities need to tell themselves the truth and solve the ethic problems in Eastern Congo.
This guy is not telling the truth. Most people you invite, why can't you ask them a question like this: M23 is composed by young people from East DRC who have been living in refugees camps for 30 years across the region, why congo doesn't resolve a problem of those refugees and those who are being killed, burned and eaten because of their tribes? They can't give you an answer. What they bring on table is: Rwanda is supporting m23, why they can't tell the root cause of the conflict.
It is really sad that this whole interview was void of substance. Historical, current, and future. He never (1) Acknowledge the fact that M23 (Banyamulenge) are Congolese, (2) That the very Congolese govt had brought in mercenaries and arm twisted (bribed) couple of African Govt forces (Burundi & SouthAfrica) recruited well known genocidaires (FDLR) to basically exterminate their fellow country men and women based on ethnicity. Rwanda has over 200k Banyamulenge refugees because of this never ending conflict. All over Western media they bring in a Congolese sympathiser to beat on the drum of 'Blame Rwanda,’ with no rebuttal from the Rwandan side. All these discussions are premised with 'blaming Rwanda' and in the process loosing the core basis of the problem. What about the butchery of the Congolese of Tutsi tribal affiliation? The discussions always circumvent this catastrophic humanitarian issue. Yet when M23 choose to say enough is enough, all of a sudden it is Rwanda that is causing destabilisation in the Great Lakes. This issue will never be solved unless the DRC govt agrees to have M23 on the table to have serious discussion, (instead of through the barrel of a gun), about assimilating it's own country men/women. We know how and why the western media through the 'drum beat' of their govts play these Machiavelli machinations. As Africans, proud Africans, we need to search ourselves very deeply about how we learn to respect, trust and engage each other. I respect and trust the Rwandan govt. They have consistently displayed, by words and definitely by deeds, actions that warrant my utmost respect and trust
M23 are Congolese not Rwandaness stop confusing people
It's crazy how you focus on stating that Rwanda support M23 but you don't focus on the reason why M23 are fighting in the first place??? M23 are congolese that speaks kinyarwanda and they are congolese according to the border that we inheritated from colonization cause they lived there for generations and they have been hunt for like 30 years now. so they are fighting for their freedom and all right to their country and it's the responsibility of Government of DRC to give them that or otherwise the war won't stop
This guy is biased...what about Rwanda....what about their experience and what about their nightmare. Rwanda has the right to protect itself against another GENO.....
EU buddy with Rwanda has gone too far!! Then again, DRC fails to share the spoils with Tutsi which they had promised.
歐盟與盧旺達(dá)的親密越界了??!再說(shuō)剛果本就該兌現(xiàn)給圖西族的自治承諾
Rwanda was the only country in the world to sound the alarm on the recruitment and use of European mercenaries, by President Félix Tshisekedi of DRC, in total violation of a 1977 OAU Convention and a 1989 UN Convention. Neither the UN Security Council nor the European unx, let alone the countries of origin of these mercenaries, ever condemned the outsourcing of this war, by the Government of Kinshasa, to these "barbouzes". Following their defeat and the fall of Goma, the mercenaries fled to a MONUSCO compound, where the UN peacekeepers protected them. And their governments requested Rwanda to facilitate in their evacuation, through Kigali, which was accepted.
Why don't you ask about the inhuman traitement of Congolese Tutsis by the Kinshasa government? A good journalist asks questions on both sides in the conflict
The people are not stupid they can not run to their attackers , something is off here
民眾不會(huì)逃向施暴者,這邏輯有問(wèn)題。
And Why did the DRC president refuse to attend the emergency meeting to end this killing ?
剛果總統(tǒng)為何拒絕參加止戰(zhàn)緊急會(huì)議?
Dear Kambale Musavuli you are from the Nande tribe! Are you sure you are impartial in your analysis of this problem?
尊敬的Kambale Musavuli,你來(lái)自南德部落!確定你的分析沒(méi)私心嗎。
Rwandan agents under this post are pathetic,since 1997 several rwandan back militias did commit alot of crimes , millions of Congolese lost their life,rape , displacement, looting of congo minerals ahave been rampant. Congolese tusti are recognize as full congolese by our constitution, despite being less than 1 % of the population they had prominent role in our government, army and police force, unfortunately some of them behave as rwandan proxies and spies,this situation one day it will backfire
The issue in Congo is complex but the media is obsessed at reducing it to M23 and Rwanda. It is much broader than that and dates back to many dozens of years ago. I advise people now hearing about this conflict for the first time to find Youtube videos explaining the root causes of this conflict and draw their own conclusions.
This time ~ the international community can understand why Rwanda had to put in place strong defensive measures to safeguard its territory! A cocktail of blood-thirst militias combined with European mercenaries and rented armies from SADC & Burundi—all pointing guns in one direction…! Any serious government would have no other alternative but to defend itself!
the fact that kagame supports zionism tells you everything you need to know... being the victim of GENO.... should never be weaponized to commit GENO....
我不明白為什么我看到M23軍隊(duì)在他們所做的事情上顯得更專(zhuān)業(yè)。
這個(gè)人說(shuō)了很多事實(shí),令人遺憾的是,大多數(shù)人不容易接受真相,因此很多人對(duì)他的評(píng)論不屑一顧。
我們的軍隊(duì)(剛果)在哪里,為什么他們不能有效地抵抗M23叛軍?問(wèn)題出在腐敗的政府和缺乏自我治理。一旦我們解決了這個(gè)問(wèn)題,我們才能處理其他問(wèn)題。
我們的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人不關(guān)心她的人民,解決人民問(wèn)題的方式是把責(zé)任推給鄰國(guó)。希望早日和平。
剛果只是第一個(gè),所有非洲國(guó)家都應(yīng)該支持剛果
M23是為他們的權(quán)利而戰(zhàn)的剛果人。
討論沖突的真正原因,而不是關(guān)于礦產(chǎn)資源和誰(shuí)在支持誰(shuí)的問(wèn)題。剛果當(dāng)局需要正視現(xiàn)實(shí),解決剛果東部的族群?jiǎn)栴}。
原創(chuàng)翻譯:龍騰網(wǎng) http://m.mintwatchbillionaireclub.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處
這個(gè)人沒(méi)有說(shuō)真話(huà)。大多數(shù)受邀的嘉賓,為什么你不問(wèn)他們這樣的問(wèn)題:M23是來(lái)自剛果東部的年輕人,他們已經(jīng)在這個(gè)地區(qū)的難民營(yíng)里生活了30年,為什么剛果不解決這些難民的問(wèn)題,還有那些被殺害、焚燒、甚至被食用的人?他們無(wú)法給你答案。他們提出的只是:盧旺達(dá)支持M23,為什么他們不能告訴你沖突的根源。
那么,半島電視臺(tái)為什么邀請(qǐng)剛果人而不邀請(qǐng)盧旺達(dá)人來(lái)平衡對(duì)話(huà)?你們都期待一個(gè)公正的敘述嗎?
但在M23到達(dá)之前,戈馬并不安全。
這段訪(fǎng)談實(shí)在令人遺憾,通篇充斥著空洞的言辭——無(wú)論是歷史維度、現(xiàn)實(shí)觀察還是未來(lái)展望。受訪(fǎng)者始終回避三個(gè)核心事實(shí):(1) M23成員(班亞穆倫格人)本身就是剛果公民;(2) 剛果政府不僅引入外國(guó)雇傭軍,更通過(guò)威逼利誘拉攏布隆迪、南非等非洲國(guó)家部隊(duì),甚至與臭名昭著的盧旺達(dá)大屠殺兇手(FDLR武裝)聯(lián)手,系統(tǒng)性地對(duì)本國(guó)圖西族同胞實(shí)施種族清洗;(3) 盧旺達(dá)境內(nèi)已收容超過(guò)20萬(wàn)因這場(chǎng)無(wú)盡沖突逃亡的班亞穆倫格難民。而西方媒體卻不斷邀請(qǐng)親剛果政府的"專(zhuān)家"單方面敲打"指責(zé)盧旺達(dá)"的戰(zhàn)鼓,從未給予盧方平等申辯的機(jī)會(huì)。
所有討論都預(yù)設(shè)了"盧旺達(dá)有罪論"的立場(chǎng),這種思維定式徹底模糊了沖突的本質(zhì)。當(dāng)剛果境內(nèi)的圖西族人持續(xù)遭遇血腥屠殺時(shí),這些"人道主義衛(wèi)士"為何集體失聲?直到M23選擇武裝反抗,他們卻突然高喊"盧旺達(dá)破壞大湖地區(qū)穩(wěn)定"。這種選擇性關(guān)注暴露了深層雙標(biāo)。事實(shí)上,唯有剛果政府停止槍炮威脅,將M23視為平等的談判對(duì)象,真正討論如何實(shí)現(xiàn)國(guó)內(nèi)民族和解,問(wèn)題才可能得到解決。
我們深知西方媒體如何配合其政府施展馬基雅維利式的政治操弄。但作為非洲人——自豪的非洲人——我們需要深刻自省:何時(shí)才能學(xué)會(huì)彼此尊重與信任?我堅(jiān)定地信任盧旺達(dá)政府,因?yàn)樗麄兊难孕惺冀K展現(xiàn)著捍衛(wèi)正義的勇氣。當(dāng)剛果軍隊(duì)與曾實(shí)施種族滅絕的劊子手并肩作戰(zhàn)時(shí),是盧旺達(dá)向被迫害的班亞穆倫格人敞開(kāi)了庇護(hù)之門(mén)。這種道義擔(dān)當(dāng),難道不值得全世界尊重嗎?
和一個(gè)沒(méi)有礦產(chǎn)的國(guó)家簽礦產(chǎn)協(xié)議...真是諷刺至極
It's crazy how you focus on stating that Rwanda support M23 but you don't focus on the reason why M23 are fighting in the first place??? M23 are congolese that speaks kinyarwanda and they are congolese according to the border that we inheritated from colonization cause they lived there for generations and they have been hunt for like 30 years now. so they are fighting for their freedom and all right to their country and it's the responsibility of Government of DRC to give them that or otherwise the war won't stop
M23是剛果人而非盧旺達(dá)人,請(qǐng)停止混淆視聽(tīng)!你們瘋狂強(qiáng)調(diào)盧旺達(dá)支持M23,卻絕口不提M23為何而戰(zhàn)?這些講盧旺達(dá)語(yǔ)的剛果人世代居住于此,卻30年來(lái)遭受迫害。他們是為生存權(quán)而戰(zhàn)的剛果公民!剛果政府有責(zé)任解決其正當(dāng)訴求,否則戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)永無(wú)休止
你完全忽略了M23作為剛果公民爭(zhēng)取權(quán)利的本質(zhì),報(bào)道存在嚴(yán)重偏見(jiàn)!為何不質(zhì)問(wèn)剛果政府對(duì)圖西族的暴行?真正的記者應(yīng)該均衡提問(wèn)沖突雙方。
此人立場(chǎng)偏頗!他們經(jīng)歷過(guò)怎樣的噩夢(mèng)?盧旺達(dá)有權(quán)防止新的種族滅絕。
原創(chuàng)翻譯:龍騰網(wǎng) http://m.mintwatchbillionaireclub.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處
歐盟與盧旺達(dá)的親密越界了??!再說(shuō)剛果本就該兌現(xiàn)給圖西族的自治承諾
盧旺達(dá)是全球唯一揭露齊塞克迪總統(tǒng)違反1977非統(tǒng)公約和1989聯(lián)合國(guó)公約、雇傭歐洲傭兵的國(guó)家。聯(lián)合國(guó)安理會(huì)和歐盟對(duì)這些'戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)外包'行為保持沉默。傭兵戰(zhàn)敗后逃到聯(lián)和國(guó)維和基地尋求庇護(hù),其政府還請(qǐng)求盧旺達(dá)協(xié)助經(jīng)基加利撤離——我們同意了。
為何不質(zhì)問(wèn)金沙薩政府迫害剛果圖西族?合格記者應(yīng)該問(wèn)雙方問(wèn)題
民眾不會(huì)逃向施暴者,這邏輯有問(wèn)題。
剛果總統(tǒng)為何拒絕參加止戰(zhàn)緊急會(huì)議?
尊敬的Kambale Musavuli,你來(lái)自南德部落!確定你的分析沒(méi)私心嗎。
評(píng)論區(qū)盧旺達(dá)水軍真可悲。1997年來(lái)盧旺達(dá)支持的民兵制造了數(shù)百萬(wàn)剛果人死亡、強(qiáng)奸、流離失所和礦產(chǎn)掠奪。剛果圖西族雖不足人口1%,卻享有憲法賦予的完整公民權(quán),在政府、軍隊(duì)和警界擔(dān)任要職??上в行┤烁十?dāng)盧旺達(dá)代理人和間諜,這種局面遲早反噬
盧旺達(dá)又來(lái)了,天吶。
剛果問(wèn)題極其復(fù)雜,但媒體卻執(zhí)意簡(jiǎn)化為M23與盧旺達(dá)的問(wèn)題。其根源可追溯至數(shù)十年前,涉及面遠(yuǎn)不止于此。建議剛關(guān)注此沖突的人們?nèi)ouTube搜索相關(guān)歷史根源解析視頻,自行判斷
他們不是盧旺達(dá)人,是剛果圖西族。
這次國(guó)際社會(huì)該理解盧旺達(dá)為何采取強(qiáng)力自衛(wèi)措施了!嗜血民兵+歐洲雇傭軍+南部非洲發(fā)展共同體與布隆迪的雇傭兵——所有槍口都對(duì)準(zhǔn)了一個(gè)方向!任何負(fù)責(zé)任的政府都別無(wú)選擇,只能自衛(wèi)!
卡加梅支持的類(lèi)似猶太復(fù)國(guó)主義的事實(shí)說(shuō)明了一切...經(jīng)歷過(guò)種族滅絕的受害者,絕不該以此為借口實(shí)施新的暴行!
原創(chuàng)翻譯:龍騰網(wǎng) http://m.mintwatchbillionaireclub.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處