For the second day, fierce clashes have been ongoing in the vicinity of the city of Goma in the eastern part of the DRC. As a result of the fighting with the M23 rebel group, the number of casualties among peacekeepers and foreign soldiers has reached 13. This was reported by representatives of the United Nations and the army.
In recent weeks, M23 has achieved significant territorial gains, surrounding the eastern city of Goma, which is home to approximately two million people and serves as a regional center for security and humanitarian activities.
The UN Security Council has postponed an emergency meeting regarding the escalation of violence to Sunday morning. Congolese authorities requested a meeting that was initially scheduled for Monday.
On Saturday, the Congolese army stated that it had repelled the M23 advance on Goma with the help of allied forces, including UN troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, also known as SAMIDRC.
"The Rwanda-backed M23 group is clearly taking advantage of the transitional period of presidential power in the U.S. to launch an offensive on Goma, putting thousands of civilians at risk," said Kate Hickson, director of advocacy for the NGO Amnesty International US in Africa, to the Associated Press.
The DRC, the U.S., and UN experts accuse Rwanda of supporting M23, which is primarily composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army over ten years ago.
The Rwandan government denies these allegations but acknowledged last year that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo for its own security. Authorities cite the buildup of Congolese forces near the border as the reason for deploying their forces. According to UN experts, there are up to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers in Congo.
Two South African peacekeepers were killed on Friday, and a Uruguayan "blue helmet" soldier died on Saturday, according to UN representatives. Three Malawian peacekeepers were killed in eastern Congo.
Seven South African soldiers from SAMIDRC have also been killed during clashes with M23 over the past two days, according to a statement from the South African Ministry of Defense.
According to a statement from the command of the Uruguayan contingent, the unit of Uruguayan soldiers "is continuously working to fulfill the mandate of the United Nations, as well as ensuring the evacuation of non-essential civilian and military personnel from the city of Goma."
"Various measures have been taken to enhance the security of our troops, who are operating under adverse conditions," military officials stated. They added that four Uruguayan peacekeepers were also injured. Three of them remained in Goma, while the fourth was evacuated to Uganda for treatment.
Since 2021, the Congolese government and allied forces, including SAMIDRC and UN troops, have been holding M23 back from Goma.
UN peacekeeping forces, also known as MONUSCO, entered Congo over two decades ago and currently consist of approximately 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.
South African Defense Minister Angie Motshekga visited her country's troops deployed in Congo as part of the UN peacekeeping mission on the day soldiers were killed.