It is all tears and blood as the sounds of gun shots, wails and tears build up the tension in Goma, eastern DRC Congo. Tens of thousands of people are fleeing Goma for their lives amid chaotic scenes after the Tutsi rebel advancement into the city led by Laurent Nkunda and the overnight looting by government military forces.
Congolese police are trying to arrest retreating soldiers whom the UN says are out of control and the city is being paraded by the UN troops who are there to check the advancing rebels and protect the helpless and hapless natives.
The atmosphere in the city since the UN patrol this morning is said to be calm but tense after a night of attacks on people’s homes and shops by Congolese troops, who were driven back into Goma from the frontline by the Laurent Nkunda led Tutsi rebels.
Tutsi rebel commander, Laurent Nkunda had called for a brief ceasefire after the brief tension that entailed gun shots. The UN radio said nine people were killed and many more wounded. But as the exodus continues, the UN Security Council has urged rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, whose forces are just outside Goma, to ensure that his declared ceasefire is implemented immediately.
The UN also condemned the fighting which has left thousands without access to shelter or clean water.
in Democratic Republic of Congo have continued their offensive on Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of congo.
Yesterday in an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Rebel Congolese Tutsi leader Laurent Nkunda threatened to fight foreign troops if they sided with Hutu militias. He said that the Congolese government had “betrayed its people” by siding with “negative forces (hutus)”.
The rebel leader maintained that the government would be made to leave, if they (the government) continue like this.
