Hundreds of people attempted to flee the Democratic Republic of Congo to Rwanda on Sunday, as heavy gunfire resonated across the key eastern Congolese city of Goma, just a few miles from the frontline.
Rwandan diplomats say their army is not deployed in the DRC, but if it was it would be to protect the Congolese Tutsi community and their own borders against the rebel Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda. The FDLR includes combatants who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Maj Gen' Pacifique Ntawunguka, the overall commander of FDLR's military wing Forces Combattantes Abacunguzi (FOCA), had several aliases, including Omega and Israel.
M23 insurgency in eastern Congo has intensified in January with the rebels seizing control of more territory than ever before, prompting the United Nations to warn of the risk of a broader regional war.
The Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday called for the United Nations to sanction Rwanda, accusing its neighbour of issuing a "declaration of war" by sending more troops over the border. Kinshasa said the reinforcements were joining fighters with the Rwandan-backed M23 force closing in on Goma, capital of DRCongo's North Kivu province.
Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, early Monday, as the United Nations described a “mass panic” among its 2 million people and Congo’s government said the rebel advance was a “declaration of war.
Congo has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting involving Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and Congolese forces intensifies near Goma. Accusations fly between nations, with the UN and Congolese government citing Rwanda's support of rebels.
Gunshots rang out Sunday night in the centre of the besieged Congolese city of Goma, AFP journalists heard, after the Democratic Republic of Congo accused Rwanda of sending fresh troops
Heavy gunfire resonated across the key eastern Congolese city of Goma on Sunday from the frontline just a few kilometres away.
President William Ruto, the current Chair of the East African Community, has called for an immediate ceasefire in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) citing an escalating humanitarian crisis.
Congo severs ties with Rwanda as rebels close in on key eastern city - Congo has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces rages around the key