North Kivu: two peacekeepers injured and two vehicles burned

The incident took place on Tuesday, November 1, at the northern entrance of Goma city, capital of the province of North Kivu. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

According to witnesses, displaced people attacked a Monusco convoy (Mission of the United Nations organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo).

“It was mainly displaced people from Rutshuru who injured the two blue helmets and set fire to the two Monusco vehicles”, they say.

A convoy of the UN Mission was attacked by an angry mob in the territory of Nyiragongo, neighboring that of Rutshuru.

The incident happened in the evening at the Kanyaruchinya barrier, at the northern entrance of the city of Goma, capital of the North Kivu Province in eastern DRC.

The day before, a demonstration organized by local civil society and pressure groups mobilized hundreds of people, mostly young people. They denounced what they described as “hypocrisy” in Rwanda and Uganda, which they accused of supporting the M23 rebels. This rebel movement has continued to gain ground in North Kivu province for weeks.

Four other peacekeepers were injured during the capture of two cities last Saturday, namely Kiwanja and Rutshuru-Centre.

Recently, several anti-Monusco demonstrations were organized in many cities and regions of the eastern part of the vast country of central Africa.

The organizers accuse it of “ineffectiveness” in the face of the aggression of local and foreign armed groups which abound in the region.

At least 37 civilians were killed during these demonstrations and more than 170 others injured, according to a Congolese government report.

The M23 (March 23 Movement) is a former Tutsi rebellion which took up arms again at the end of 2021, accusing Kinshasa of not having respected agreements on the reintegration of its fighters. The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting this rebel movement citing images taken by drones showing the massive arrival of Rwandan soldiers to support the M23, which Kigali systematically denies, accusing in turn the Congolese army of collaborating with the genocidaires, FDLR, to attack Rwanda.