The AFC/M23 alliance has called out the United Nations, alongside the Congolese regime to stop engaging in the “shameful controversy” surrounding the deaths of civilians in Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province, which the rebels captured last week. ALSO READ: Corneille Nangaa on M23 capture of Goma, FDLR and march to Kinshasa The M23 captured Goma a few days after surrounding and getting the better of the massive Congolese army (FARDC) coalition of the genocidal FDLR militia from Rwanda, 10,000 Burundian forces, 1,600 European mercenaries, and South Africa-led SADC forces. Hundreds of jubilant Goma residents ran and cheered in celebration, as they welcomed columns M23 troops marched into the city soon after it was captured. WATCH: Goma residents run and cheer in celebration, welcoming M23 rebel group soldiers after they captured the North Kivu provincial capital on Monday. pic.twitter.com/3SVTj0A8A1 — The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) January 27, 2025 Without clarifying who exactly was killed or injured, the United Nations reported that at least 900 people were killed and almost 3,000 injured in the days of fighting in Goma leading up to its capture. ALSO READ: M23 rebels declare unilateral ceasefire Reports from the M23 indicate that the number of deceased includes 2,500 Congolese army troops, Burundian troops, European mercenaries, as well as FDLR and Wazalendo militia fighters who were neutralized, and not 3,000 civilian lives lost as reported by the UN. The bodies that littered the streets of Goma were then collected by the health services and kept in the morgue of Goma hospital before their burial. UN pursuing ‘agenda for continued relevance, preservation of crisis’ “They are indeed those of the FARDC soldiers and its allies Wazalendo, FDLR, FDNB, and mercenaries who fell on the battlefield,” M23 said on Wednesday, February 5. ALSO READ: Thabo Mbeki: Implementing Sun City Agreement, disarming FDLR only way to solve DR Congo crisis “It is known and witnessed by all, through videos that went around the world, that the FARDC and their defeated allies had refused to comply with the order of our forces to lay down their arms with MONUSCO to be confined to the Unity stadium. They preferred to engage in combat in the city center of Goma, where they were subsequently definitively neutralized,” the AFC/M23 statement added. “The bodies of these soldiers were buried and the city of Goma was completely secured. No family in Goma is mourning these deaths.” According to M23, the idea behind distorting facts and raising the alarm is for the UN to “pursue its agenda for continued relevance and preservation of a crisis.” “The U.N. was comfortable with the previous situation and is actively distorting the current realities.” This is not the first time the UN particularly through its mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, has been on the spot for failing to pacify the conflict-battered eastern DR Congo. Experts argue that with two and a half decades and close to $40 billion, the mission failed to help bring peace to the region. IDPs returning home A week after their takeover of Goma, the M23 say that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are being facilitated to go to their villages spontaneously. For instance, Kanyarucinya camp on the outskirts of Goma was emptied after the IDPs went back to their villages in Nyiragongo territory. “The M23 is arranging transport for those from Masisi who were living in the Mugunga camp.” Last Friday, hundreds of people, mostly Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from several camps around the town applauded the rebels for liberating the region. ALSO READ: Protestors in Goma want Burundi, SADC forces out As she prepared to travel back home, Evelyne Kabongoli Tafazali, a 35-year-old from Buhimba IDP camp on the outskirts of Goma who had fled from her village in Minova, South Kivu Province, had no kind words for the government in Kinshasa. WATCH: Mass demonstrations in Goma on Friday as local residents protest against the government of President Felix Tshisekedi and the targeted killings of Congolese Tutsi. : @dushimimana_e /TNT pic.twitter.com/vSbRFwfgGH — The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) January 31, 2025 The mother of five told The New Times: “I am so happy because ever since M23 arrived here [Goma], they ensured there is security and we hear no more bombs and there is no harassment from government troops. But in the [IDP] camp we lack water and food, and are suffering. Back home, our homes have been destroyed. We wish we could get support to resume our normal lives. “Ever since they [Congolese government] came to power we have had no peace.” The AFC/M23 Executive Secretary, Benjamin Mbonimpa, urged Tafazali and hundreds other people from IDP camps in the city outskirts to return to their homes since security is now guaranteed so that they start “working hard to rebuild your lives.” Mbonimpa said: “We know you have suffered so much but we are going to put that to and end. We will do everything so that normalcy returns.”
