Goma : the Congolese army confirms the death of the military governor of North Kivu

It is the spokesman for the Congolese army, General Sylvain Ekenge, who announced it from the capital Kinshasa on Friday. It was at the end of a security meeting chaired by the head of state, Félix Tshisekedi.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The announcement was made several hours after the confirmation of the death of Major General Peter Cirimwami by Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesman for the M23.

“Major General Cirimwami Nkuba Peter fell with his weapon in his hand on the field of honor. He was wounded, he was evacuated, everything was done for him to arrive in Kinshasa and to be transported outside the country but unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries,” announced General Sylvain Ekenge.

“He will be honored during the national funeral that will be organized here in Kinshasa,” added General Ekenge. The spokesperson for the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) did not give further details on the circumstances of the death of the military governor of North Kivu. But according to security sources, many soldiers died with Major General Peter Cirimwami.

An agent of the ANR (National Intelligence Agency) had confirmed to SOS Médias Burundi the death of the governor before the declaration of the Congolese army.

“He received three bullets – one in the neck, another in the leg and in the stomach,” he said.

Day of death

On Thursday, Major General Cirimwami went to Mubambiro in the Masisi territory in order to “strengthen the morale of troops”. Congolese soldiers, militiamen maintained by Congolese authorities and forces of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) were fighting with M23 rebels in the strategic city of Sake to “prevent a probable recovery of the city of Goma”.

Major General Peter Cirimwami also went to a camp for displaced persons. He spoke with the local population.

Fear

The US embassy in the DRC called on its nationals on Friday, in a statement on its X account (formerly Twitter), to go to a safer place while the airports and borders are still open. And the British Foreign Office and the French embassy in the DRC have done the same. The representatives of these countries speak of “risk of rapid deterioration”.

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was alarmed by the resumption of hostilities in eastern Congo, condemning the new offensive launched by the M23 rebels since the beginning of the year in North Kivu and South Kivu, including the recent capture of Sake which aggravates the threats to the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu.

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Major General Peter Cirimwami during his last hours in Mubambiro in the territory of Masisi, January 23, 2025 (SOS Médias Burundi)