UN Officials Express Alarm Over Escalating Violence in DRC's Goma
Senior United Nations officials have voiced deep concern over the escalation of violence and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), amid intensified hostilities in Goma, the eastern regional capital city.
Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the DRC, reported that heavy artillery fire has struck the city center, hitting hospitals and a site managed by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
\"For example, several shells struck the charity maternity hospital in central Goma, killing and injuring civilians, including newborns and pregnant women,\" Lemarquis said. A Save the Children facility and the UNHCR site were also hit.
Hospitals in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, are overwhelmed. Lemarquis indicated that essential services are becoming critical, with water and electricity compromised and internet services cut. While phone networks are operational, they are patchy.
Speaking via video link from Kinshasa, Lemarquis described the humanitarian crisis in and around Goma as extremely worrying, with \"a new threshold of violence and suffering\" reached as active combat threatens all quarters of the city. \"Civilians are taking the brunt of the escalating hostilities,\" he said.
Hundreds of thousands of people are attempting to flee the violence. Lemarquis noted that about 700,000 internally displaced people in and around Goma, already living in dire conditions, are again on the move. \"They have no choices; they have to flee the violence,\" he stated.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, speaking from Damascus, highlighted the volatility and danger of the situation on the ground. \"It's clear there has been significant advances in favor of M23 and Rwanda Defense Forces. To a large extent, it's a shift in the balance of force,\" he observed.
Lacroix emphasized the daunting humanitarian challenges and the high risk of a broader humanitarian disaster. \"We want to avoid the risk of a broad war,\" he added.
The conflict has also resulted in casualties among UN peacekeepers, with three killed—two from South Africa and one from Uruguay—and twelve others injured. Government forces have also sustained casualties.
The United Nations has relocated non-essential national and international personnel and their dependents from Goma to Kinshasa or the regional UN hub in Entebbe, Uganda. Only critical humanitarian staff remain in the city.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
