GOMA: At least nine people were killed in explosions on Friday in a displaced persons’ camp situated on the outskirts of Goma, in the conflict-ridden eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, reported local media.
According to witnesses, “explosive devices” struck huts housing displaced persons in the eastern region, which has been a focal point for ongoing clashes between M23 (March 23 movement) rebels and government forces.
After a period of dormancy lasting eight years, the predominantly Tutsi M23 rebellion reignited in late 2021, seizing control of significant areas in North Kivu province, approximately forty kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, Goma.
The exact origin of Friday’s explosions remains unclear. Witnesses stated that government forces, positioned near the camp, had been bombarding rebel positions on the hills further west since early morning. Civil society sources also suggested that the M23 may have retaliated by indiscriminately deploying explosives.
Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya accused “the Rwandan army and its M23 terrorist supporters” of orchestrating the attack.
Reports indicated a grim scene, with Dedesi Mitima, head of the Lac Vert neighborhood west of Goma, recounting seeing nine bodies, including several children. Another official cited a preliminary death toll of 10.
A hospital source, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed, “We have just received 32 wounded people and four deceased.”
The affected huts flanked the road leading from Goma to the strategically important town of Sake, approximately 20 kilometers from the capital.
Recent hostilities have escalated around Sake, with rebels seizing control of additional towns in the Masisi district, northwest of Goma, including the mining town Rubaya.
At the close of 2023, the UN estimated that nearly seven million people had been displaced across DR Congo, with 2.5 million individuals displaced in North Kivu alone.
