Rwanda-backed rebels move deeper into eastern Congo as UN reports executions and rapes
Associated Press4 days
DR Congo: Hundreds Killed in Goma as M23 Seizes Control
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Above: Armed men travel in a pickup truck through a street in Goma on Jan. 28, 2025. Image copyright: Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Facts
Congolese authorities have said that at least 773 people have been killed and nearly 2.9K have been injured in Goma and its vicinity as the main anti-government militia captured the largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to reports, morgues were overwhelmed, and bodies were lying on the streets as daily life tentatively resumed on Saturday, with power and water partially restored and markets reopening after intense fighting.
This comes as the March 23 Movement (M23) — reportedly backed by troops from Rwanda — seized control over Goma after entering the city last Monday in a major escalation of years-long conflict in the mineral-rich province of North Kivu.
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
There's a new major war in the making in the DRC, and the West is ultimately to blame for it due to its complacency towards its ally, Rwanda. It's unacceptable that evidence of Rwandan support for ethnic Tutsi insurgencies has been played down for so long. Now, time is running short to prevent even worse consequences.
Pro-establishment narrative
It's nonsense to point fingers at the West when even the Congolese people are blaming their president, Félix Tshisekedi, government officials, and military commanders. After all, it was they — not the West — who snubbed peace talks and left citizens stranded in Goma.
