An exacerbated conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) army and the Tutsi-led M23 rebels, reportedly supported by Rwanda, has disarranged food supplies to the eastern city of Goma. At least over two million residents have been affected by this and leaving other individuals displaced.
Clashes have heightened since the beginning of the year in towns and villages around the provincial capital as rebels seized territory, compelling thousands of individuals to seek refuge in the city.
The use of heavy weaponry and shelling has slain dozens, and hospitals in Goma are struggling to cope with the influx of wounded civilians.
The United Nations and other aid agencies have issued warnings that the fighting risks were intensifying the humanitarian crisis in the eastern Congo region, where over 5 million people have been displaced in the four provinces of the region because of the conflicts.
The governments of Congo, United Nations officials and Western powers have all charged Rwanda of supporting the resurgent agitators who claim to defend ethnic Tutsi interests against Hutu militias whose leaders were a part of the 1994 Rwandan genocide where over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
Rwanda has however, denied the claims.
Already, the U.S directed Rwanda on Saturday to from henceforth, withdraw all of its military personnel from Congo and remove surface-to-air missile systems, noting that these threatened the lives of civilians, U.N. and other regional peacekeepers, humanitarian workers, and commercial flights in eastern Congo.
With the insurgents moving towards the town of Sake, (about 25 km or 15.5 miles west of Goma), the city now depends on the meagre food supplies brought in by canoes from villages around Lake Kivu.
