DRC: Death Toll Rises to 14, Bombing on IDP Camps

May 5, 2024 Hour: 1:14 pm

On Saturday, a local official said that at least 14 people were killed and 35 others injured, mainly women and children, after rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) dropped “around 10” bombs on Friday on three sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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The toll could still go up in the attack, on the IDP sites in the Lac Vert, Lushagala, and Mugunga neighbourhoods of Goma, capital of the eastern province of North Kivu, said Peter Chirimwami, the military governor of North Kivu.

Angele Dikongue-Atangana, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) representative to the DRC, said late Friday that 12 people were killed in the bombing.

The DRC government blamed the attacks on rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23), who have engaged in fighting with the DRC military and gained control of territories in North Kivu.

Otro genocidio del que no se habla, el de la Republica Democratica del Congo, donde ayer terroristas del M23, apoyados por EEUU y Europa, bombardearon 2 campos de refugiados en la ciudad de Goma.

Este niño congoleño se aferra a su madre muerta, sin comprender lo que ocurre, al… pic.twitter.com/yaAQHvcM7v

— Daniel Mayakovski (@DaniMayakovski)
May 4, 2024

The text reads,

Another genocide that is not talked about, that of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where yesterday M23 terrorists, supported by the US and Europe, bombed 2 refugee camps in the city of Goma.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, who was visiting Europe, cut short his trip following the bombing.

“I guarantee we will win this fight whatever it takes,” Tshisekedi told Congolese expatriates in Belgium on Friday.

The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, called on all sides to take appropriate measures to reduce risks to civilians and maintain humanitarian access.

��
LE CONGO SAIGNE ET PLEURE !

Les rebelles du #M23 ont largué des bombes sur des civils dans le camp de Mugunga à GOMA, causant 12 morts et plusieurs blessés dont plusieurs enfants.#FreeCongo #StopCongoGenocide pic.twitter.com/wjJJlROXrd

— Jeune_Patriote_Panafricain✊�� (@Jeune_Activiste)
May 5, 2024

The text reads,

THE CONGO IS BLEEDING AND CRYING! #M23 rebels dropped bombs on civilians in the Mugunga camp in GOMA, causing 12 deaths and several injuries, including several children.

MONUSCO is expected to leave the DRC no later than the end of 2024, by handing over UN bases and equipment to DRC security forces under a three-phase departure plan.

“I reiterate the call of the United Nations secretary-general to all armed groups in eastern DRC to cease all hostilities immediately, to lay down their arms unconditionally, and to join the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Community Rehabilitation and Stabilisation Program,” Bintou Keita, the head of MONUSCO, said in a statement released late Friday.