Jean-Pierre Lacroix, United Nations (UN) Chief of Peace Operations, confirmed during a briefing yesterday (Monday, 27 January) Rwandan troops are supporting M23 rebels in Goma.
A UN report on the briefing has it he condemned the killing of three MONUSCO peacekeepers, two South Africans and a Uruguayan without specifying whether M23 or the Rwandan troops were responsible.
Lacroix said the situation around “the battle” for eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) regional capital Goma was “volatile and dangerous”.
UN peacekeepers remain in their positions with some MONUSCO staff “forced to seek shelter due to the ongoing conflict”. This, according to him, “limited their ability to have the full level of information that they would have gotten if they had not been sheltering”. At the same time, non-essential UN personnel and their dependents were relocated “away from Goma”.
He confirmed MONUSCO personnel would continue delivering on their mandate, including protecting civilians and disarming combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law. “The fate of the millions of civilians living in Goma or having been displaced is really the priority along with the safety and security of UN personnel,” according to the UN briefing report.
At the briefing Bruno Lemarquis, UN Deputy Special Representative, Resident Co-ordinator and Humanitarian Co-ordinator, updated the humanitarian situation in Goma saying events there “come on top of one of the most protracted, complex and serious humanitarian crises on Earth”.
“Civilians are taking the brunt of escalating hostilities with heavy artillery fire directed at the city centre, including a maternity hospital. Several shells struck the Charity Maternity Hospital in central Goma, killing and injuring civilians, including newborns and pregnant women,” he said.
Basic services such as water, electricity and internet are, according to Lemarquis, “severely disrupted”.
He called for temporary humanitarian pauses to facilitate safe evacuation of civilians and ensure aid delivery. “We must act now to prevent further loss of life and alleviate the suffering of the people of Goma.”
