UN: Civilians' suffering 'unimaginable' in Congolese city under rebel attack

A senior U.N. official in the eastern Congolese city under threat from Rwandan-backed rebels said Tuesday that civilian suffering there is “truly unimaginable” and called for “urgent and coordinated” international action to end the fighting.

“Immediate action is required to alleviate the suffering of civilians and enable lifesaving humanitarian efforts to proceed,” said Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO.

She briefed the second emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council in the last 72 hours on the situation in Goma. Van de Perre spoke from the city by video call, wearing a flak jacket and military helmet.

“Electricity and water supplies remain disrupted in Goma, and medical facilities are completely overwhelmed due to the intensity of the ongoing combat and the proximity of the front lines,” she said.

“Humanitarian operations have been suspended or readjusted.”

The World Food Program said Tuesday it is temporarily pausing its operations in North Kivu province, of which Goma is the capital. WFP said that will affect 800,000 people who would not get food aid due to the insecurity.

The agency warned that if the fighting is drawn out, it could lead to a food shortage and high prices in the city of 2 million to 3 million people.

Civilians are not the only ones running out of supplies.

“Many troops are now running out of critical equipment, especially water, food, medical supplies and blood,” van de Perre said.

“In some camps, fuel shortages have rendered generators inoperable, affecting communications equipment.”

In early January, M23 rebels broke a ceasefire agreement, launching a large-scale offensive in the east with the support of the Rwandan army.

The U.N. said the rebels have made significant territorial gains and are seeking to open a new front in neighboring South Kivu province.

The United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have called for the M23 to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from occupied territories.

They have called for the withdrawal of Rwandan forces and a return to the Luanda process of mediation overseen by Angolan President Joao Lourenco.

At Tuesday’s Security Council meeting, Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner expressed her government’s frustration with the lack of a strong international response.

“Over this past 72 hours, we've seen a regional tragedy that could have been prevented if the Council had been able to take action,” she told its members.

She said she had asked for action at its first meeting on Sunday and asked if “this council is unwilling to act?”

Some 2,574 kilometers away in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, protesters turned violent Tuesday, attacking, looting and burning some embassies, including those of France and Rwanda. The U.S. State Department said on its X account that its embassy is closed until further notice.

Rwanda’s U.N. ambassador condemned the attack, saying it was “totally burned down.”

“Rwanda calls on the DRC to take its diplomatic obligations seriously and hold perpetrators accountable,” Ambassador Ernest Rwamucyo told council members.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission, known by its acronym MONUSCO, has also reinforced its positions to counter the rebels’ advance on Goma, deploying a quick reaction force, a rapid deployment battalion, a reserve battalion, a platoon of special forces and an artillery battery.

In the past few days, three U.N. peacekeepers have been killed and several injured in the conflict.

Kenyan President William Ruto said he plans to hold crisis talks Wednesday with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame at an emergency meeting of the East African Community.

The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a phone call Monday with Tshisekedi, “condemned the assault on Goma by the Rwanda-backed M23 and affirmed the United States’ respect for the sovereignty of the DRC.”

Before the latest round of violence, eastern DRC was already mired in one of the largest and most protracted humanitarian crises in the world, with nearly 6.5 million people displaced due to efforts by armed groups to seize control of the country’s valuable mineral deposits.