WHILE South Africa continued to count the loss of its soldiers on a peacekeeping mission in DRC, rebels seized the airport east of that country’s largest city Goma on Tuesday, potentially cutting off the main route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
This was after M3 fighters supported by Rwandan troops captured the city in an offensive that left dead bodies lying in the streets - including three South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members, bringing the number of its fatalities in the past week to 13.
In a statement Tuesday, the SANDF said M23 rebels launched a mortar bomb in the direction of Goma Airport, which landed in the SANDF base, killing three members.
“The SANDF is also saddened to announce that one of our members who was injured during the battle with M23 rebels over the past three days later succumbed to injuries. The rest of the injured members continue to receive medical attention at the Level 3 Hospital in Goma.
“The SANDF remains fully committed to its peacekeeping responsibilities under the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC). Our troops continue to operate with resolve, courage, and discipline in pursuit of peace and stability in the region,” said SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini.
M23 fighters marched into Goma on Monday in the worst escalation since 2012 of a three-decade conflict rooted in the long fallout from the Rwandan genocide and the struggle for control of Congo's abundant mineral resources.
In the Congolese capital Kinshasa, 1,600 km (1,000 miles) west of Goma, protesters attacked a U.N. compound and embassies including those of Rwanda, France and the United States, expressing anger at what they said was foreign interference.
Goma is a major hub for people displaced by fighting elsewhere in eastern Congo and aid groups seeking to assist them. The fighting has sent thousands of people streaming out of the city including some who had recently sought refuge there from M23's offensive since the start of the year.
Just across the border in Rwanda, trucks were unloading large numbers of people fleeing Goma with their children and bundles of possessions wrapped in pieces of fabric.
Democratic Republic of Congo's government and the head of U.N. peacekeeping have said Rwandan troops were present in Goma, backing up their M23 allies. Rwanda has said it is defending itself against the threat from Congolese militias, without directly commenting on whether its troops have crossed the border.
Goma residents and U.N. sources said dozens of troops had surrendered, but some soldiers and pro-government militiamen were holding out.
The SANDF moved to clarify reports that SANDF forces had surrendered to M23 rebels.
“We wish to set the record straight. The footage in question depicts a white flag raised, which is an outcome of discussions between the opposing fighting forces to agree on a truce to allow M23 to recover their dead and injured in the vicinity of our base. This will also open the route for our troops to access medical facilities. This is common practice in any war. Let members of the public not be alarmed by a video clip and its meaning,” said Dlamini.
Meanwhile people in several neighbourhoods reported small arms fire and some loud explosions Tuesday.
"I have heard the crackle of gunfire from midnight until now ... it is coming from near the airport," an elderly woman in Goma's northern Majengo neighbourhood, close to the airport, told Reuters by phone.
Much of the fighting was concentrated around the airport, and by the afternoon several diplomatic and security sources said the M23 rebels had taken full control of it, putting them in charge of a vital link to the outside world.
"It was through the airport that the U.N., the humanitarian groups, the peacekeepers and even the Congolese army were getting supplies in," said Congo researcher Christoph Vogel, adding that there was no viable access by road or by boat on Lake Kivu.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA), told a briefing in Geneva colleagues had reported "heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets".
"We have reports of rapes committed by fighters, looting of property ... and humanitarian health facilities being hit," he added. Other international aid officials described hospitals overwhelmed with wounded being treated in hallways.
Francois Moreillon, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Congo, told Reuters a medicine warehouse had been looted, and he was concerned about a laboratory where dangerous germs including ebola were kept.
"Should it be hit in any way by shells which could affect the integrity of the structure, this could potentially allow germs to escape, representing a major public health issue well beyond the borders of the DRC," he said.
Cape Times