/
RSS Feed
Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have abducted at least 130 sick and wounded patients from two hospitals in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations said Monday.
On February 28, M23 fighters stormed CBCA Ndosho Hospital and Heal Africa Hospital in Goma, a strategic city they seized earlier this year, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.
The rebels took 116 patients from CBCA and 15 from Heal Africa, suspecting them of being Congolese army soldiers or members of the pro-government Wazalendo militia.
“It is deeply distressing that M23 is taking patients from their hospital beds in coordinated raids and holding them incommunicado in undisclosed locations,” Shamdasani said, calling for their immediate release.
M23 rebels have launched a sweeping offensive across eastern DRC since the start of the year, seizing key towns and killing an estimated 3,000 people in the deadliest escalation of the conflict in more than a decade.
In a rapid three-week assault, the group took control of Goma—the largest city in eastern DRC—and later seized Bukavu, the country’s second-largest city. The mineral-rich region is home to vast deposits of gold and coltan, a crucial mineral for manufacturing capacitors used in electronics such as laptops and smartphones.
According to UN experts, M23 is backed by around 4,000 Rwandan troops and has at times threatened to march on the DRC capital, Kinshasa, over 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) away.
Rwanda, in turn, accuses the DRC of recruiting ethnic Hutu fighters responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
M23 claims it is fighting to protect Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination and seeks to transform the DRC into a functioning state. However, analysts have dismissed these justifications as cover for Rwanda’s involvement in the conflict.
Tensions remain high after at least 11 people were killed and dozens injured last week when explosions struck a rally organized by M23 leaders in Bukavu.
