Fighting near Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s largest city, has killed at least 20 people since Monday and ended an uneasy six-month calm between the army and fighters from the M23 rebel group.
On the evening of Tuesday, six shells fell on the neighborhood streets Mugunga, seriously injuring six people and damaging three houses. Although the attacks have not only resulted in deaths among the civilian population, they have caused extensive damage and forced people from their homes.
After three days of hostilities, Caritas Goma reported that 4,400 people from Mutaho have fled to seek refuge in the premises of the parish of St. Francis Xavier in Ndosho. Caritas Goma is providing people displaced by the fighting with humanitarian aid.
This week’s fighting was the first since November, when M23 troops routed the army and briefly seized Goma, despite the presence of thousands of U.N. peacekeepers. The U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is currently in the region.