13 UN peacekeepers, allied soldiers dead in Congo as M23 rebels make gains in key city

The planetary airdrome successful Goma was evacuated and commercialized flights temporarily grounded connected Sunday arsenic warring betwixt Rwanda-backed rebels and authorities forces raged astir eastbound Congo's cardinal city, leaving astatine slightest 13 peacekeepers and overseas soldiers dormant and displacing thousands of civilians.

The M23 rebel group has made important territorial gains on the borderline with Rwanda successful caller weeks, closing successful connected Goma, the provincial superior that has a colonisation of astir 2 cardinal and is simply a determination hub for information and humanitarian efforts.

Goma’s planetary airport, which is eastbound of the city, was evacuated by the subject and commercialized flights were temporarily grounded owed to the fighting, an airdrome cause told The Associated Press. The cause spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that helium wasn’t authorized to talk connected the substance publicly.

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The United Nations connected Sunday told its unit not to spell to the airdrome and to structure successful place, according to an interior email seen by AP.

Congo, the United States and U.N. experts impeach Rwanda of backing M23, which is chiefly made up of taste Tutsis who broke distant from the Congolese service much than a decennary ago. It's 1 of astir 100 equipped groups that person been vying for a foothold successful the mineral-rich region, wherever a long-running struggle has created 1 of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

Rwanda’s authorities denies backing the rebels, but past twelvemonth acknowledged that it has troops and rocket systems successful eastbound Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces adjacent the border. U.N. experts estimation determination are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces successful Congo.

The Congolese Foreign Ministry said precocious Saturday it was severing diplomatic ties with Rwanda and pulling retired each diplomatic unit from the state "with contiguous effect."

Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told AP connected Sunday that the determination to chopped ties was a unilateral determination by Congo "that was adjacent published connected societal media earlier being sent to our embassy."

"For us, we took due measures to evacuate our remaining diplomat successful Kinshasa, who was nether imperishable menace by Congolese officials. And this was achieved connected Friday, 1 time earlier the work of this alleged enactment verbale connected societal media," helium said.

In the past 48 hours, 2 U.N. peacekeepers from South Africa and 1 from Uruguay were killed, and 11 peacekeepers were injured and hospitalized, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ spokesperson said Sunday up of an exigency gathering of the U.N. Security Council.

The U.N. main reiterated his "strongest condemnation" of the M23 violative "with the enactment of the Rwanda Defense Forces," and called connected the rebel radical to instantly halt each hostile enactment and retreat its forces, U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.

On Sunday morning, dense gunfire resonated crossed Goma, conscionable a fewer miles from the beforehand line. Scores of displaced children and adults fled the Kanyaruchinya camp, 1 of the largest successful eastbound Congo, close adjacent the Rwandan border, and headed southbound to Goma.

"We are fleeing due to the fact that we saw soldiers connected the borderline with Rwanda throwing bombs and shooting," said Safi Shangwe, who was heading to Goma.

"We are bushed and we are afraid, our children are astatine hazard of starving," she added.

Some of the displaced disquieted they volition not beryllium harmless successful Goma either.

"We are going to Goma, but I heard that determination are bombs successful Goma, too, truthful present we don’t cognize wherever to go," said Adèle Shimiye.

Hundreds of radical attempted to flee to Rwanda done the "Great Barrier" borderline crossing eastbound of Goma connected Sunday. Migration officers cautiously checked question documents.

"I americium crossing to the different broadside to spot if we volition person a spot of refuge due to the fact that for the moment, information successful the metropolis is not guaranteed," Muahadi Amani, a nonmigratory of Goma, told the AP.

Earlier successful the week, the rebels seized Sake, 16 miles from Goma, arsenic concerns mounted that the metropolis could soon fall.

Congo’s service said Saturday it fended disconnected an M23 violative with the assistance of allied forces, including U.N. troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, besides known arsenic SAMIDRC.

In summation to the 2 South African peacekeepers, 7 South African troops with SAMIDIRC person been killed successful caller days, South Africa’s Ministry of Defense said.

Since 2021, Congo’s authorities and allied forces, including SAMIDRC and U.N. troops, person been keeping M23 distant from Goma. The U.N. peacekeeping unit entered Congo much than 2 decades agone and has astir 14,000 peacekeepers connected the ground.