“Deadly Bombing at Congo Displacement Camp as Eastern Violence Escalates”

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"Deadly Bombing at Congo Displacement Camp as Eastern Violence Escalates"

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A rebel group bombed a displacement camp in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province, killing three civilians and injuring eight others, a local civil society group reported on Tuesday. The violence in the conflict-hit region has sparked protests, and a humanitarian group warned that thousands are facing limited access to aid.

The Zaina camp, located 16 miles from the city of Goma, was bombed on Monday by a rebel group with alleged links to neighboring Rwanda, according to civil society leader Wete Mwami Yenga. The bombing followed days of attacks near the city.

While the M23 rebels did not claim responsibility for the attack, they appeared to confirm on Tuesday that they were heading to the town of Sake, near Goma. Congo’s government and United Nations experts have accused the M23 group of receiving military support from Rwanda, a claim Rwanda denies.

“The M23 is coming to liberate them and protect them from those heavy artillery,” said the group’s spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka in a statement, referring to their ongoing fighting with Congolese security forces.

In recent days, thousands have fled their homes into Goma as the fighting intensifies, and hospitals in the city are filled with injured civilians, many of whom have limited access to medical care.

“I have ten kids, they are suffering,” said Ushindi Soleil, an injured father of ten receiving treatment in one of the hospitals. “That I’m lying on this hospital bed does me a disservice.”

Since November, more than one million people have been displaced by the conflict, according to the Mercy Corps aid group, adding to the 6.9 million who have already fled their homes in one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises.

Major routes around Goma have been cut off by gunfire and the sounds of artillery, making it difficult for aid agencies to provide assistance safely. “Aid agencies are now grappling with daily decisions on where and when it is safe to provide assistance amid reports of aid workers getting caught in the crossfire,” said Emilie Vonck, Mercy Corps’ country director in Congo.

Angered by the conflict, hundreds of people held protests in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, on Monday, targeting foreign embassies whom they accuse of not supporting the country to end the violence.

The U.N.’s top official in Congo, Bintou Keita, condemned the protests as “unacceptable.” Meanwhile, the U.N. peacekeepers, which the Congolese government has deemed ineffective in the country, continue to leave the country ahead of a December deadline.

On her hospital bed in Goma, Feza Bongongwa, a pregnant woman wounded last week in one of the attacks, pleaded for an end to the conflict.

“The most important thing is to help us end this war,” said Bongongwa. “M23 is making us suffer.”