By : Lloyd Mahachi
773 bodies in hospital morgues in and around the eastern Congolese city of Goma as of 30 January 2025 following this week’s offensive attacks by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, says the Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry on Saturday.
Morgues are over capacitated and more bodies are lying on the streets, the ministry said. It added that 2,880 wounded were recorded between Jan. 26 and Jan. 30.
The Tutsi-led M23 rebels on Tuesday seized Goma, east Congo’s largest city and the capital of North Kivu province, which is home to lucrative gold, coltan and tin mines.
They then moved on towards Bukavu in South Kivu, but appeared to be held up on Friday by Congolese troops supported by Burundi’s army.
Well trained and professionally armed, M23 is the latest in a long line of Rwandan-supported rebel movements to emerge in Congo’s volatile eastern borderlands following two successive wars stemming from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
The latest escalation has worsened a long-standing humanitarian crisis that has driven hundreds of thousands to seek shelter in Goma after fleeing fighting between M23 and Congolese troops.
Thousands more streamed into the city this month as the rebels advanced.
Humanitarian organisations struggled to operate during the days of heavy fighting surrounding Goma’s capture, supporting overwhelmed hospitals and providing relief amid widespread looting of their warehouses and crossfire that also affected their own staff.
Medecins Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders said on Friday it had only a small stock of medicine left and had stopped assisting people in displacement camps. The World Food Programme said it had evacuated staff and suspended operations.
There was a shortage of medical supplies, ambulances and body bags, Congo’s health ministry said, with security concerns still limiting access to parts of the city.
Daily life was cautiously resuming in Goma on Saturday after intense fighting that led to human rights violations and fatalities according to the U.N.
Markets reopened, although food remained scarce, with many stalls empty. One customer said mobile internet was still down.
Three humanitarian sources said people were leaving displacement camps. Corneille Nangaa, head of the political coalition backing the M23, Alliance Fleuve Congo, said people were leaving because roads had reopened, and that their aim was to facilitate their return home “as soon as conditions allow”.
“We are going to ask all these NGOs for their support (with this), but the challenge is to do everything, to move from humanitarian aid to development,” Nangaa said on Friday.
Fighting appeared to have stalled on Saturday after the army pushed back.
Rwanda has long denied the alleged support for M23 and says it is defending itself. Congo denies the allegations and accuses Rwanda of using M23 to pillage valuable minerals.
Editor : Josephine Mahachi
