The War Hasn’t started yet in the Republic of Chadila-Kivu: The South of the Congo is a Demonstration

Congolese authorities have said the army will defend the city to the last. “The war hasn’t started yet. The army spokesman said on Saturday that it would start now.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs there were hospitals overload with people wounded by gunshots and mortars.

On Sunday evening, fire could still be heard in the northwestern part of the city but it was not clear how far away the frontlines were. The airport closed earlier in the afternoon, after the M23 declared it was shutting the airspace over Goma.

Rwanda has never publicly admitted to intervening in North Kivu, nor to supporting the M23. It says that discrimination and hate speech is the root of the long running insurgencies ineasternCongo, which has been blamed on the government collaborating with the FDC.

Goma, Congo – A “salt lake” for rebels since the end of the M23-dominated wartime? U.N. and South African diplomats visit the rebels

On Saturday, the United Nations evacuated the majority of its civilian staff from Goma as the danger of the city falling was rising. Hundreds of thousands of people are camping out around the city, with little aid, because aid groups have evacuated most staff.

The UN resisted publicly acknowledging that Rwanda played a role in the conflict. The second biggest contributor of troops to the UN was Rwanda.

The UN Security Council has independent experts in North Kivu who report to them. Mobile air-defense units were deployed to North Kivu to support the M23.

GOMA, Congo — Fighting with M23 rebels in eastern Congo has left at least 13 peacekeepers and foreign soldiers dead, United Nations and army officials said Saturday.

Residents of the city took shelter, with stores closed and streets mostly empty. There were densely packed camps in the outer suburbs. Power is also cut for most people in the city of over one million people, after electricity lines were damaged in the fighting. People were having a hard time charging their phone and maintaining contact with loved ones.

“We’re afraid, but where can we go apart from Lake Kivu,” said Vicky Ushindi, a 23-year old spice seller, referring to the lake whose shores Goma sits on. She said she would stay put if the M23 arrived, but that power cuts posed a more pressing problem than artillery. “In this darkness, the rebels could come without us knowing,” Ushindi added.

In January, the three-year conflict escalated dramatically, with M23 fighters capturing the territory in neighboring South Kivu province for the first time, and descending from positions in the lush hills around Goma to engage Congolese forces and allies in combat. On Saturday, the rebels issued an ultimatum to Congolese forces defending Goma, giving them 48 hours to lay down arms. The rebels are being held back by the forces of the UN, European private military companies, and pro-government local militias.

A southern African regional military deployment comprising South African, Tanzanian and Malawian troops have also been assisting the Congolese army — which is notoriously weak, ill equipped and corrupt.

South Africa’s defense minister, Angie Motshekga, was visiting the country’s troops stationed in Congo as part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission the day the soldiers were killed.

Uruguay’s military in a statement issued Saturday identified its member killed in Congo as Rodolfo Álvarez, who was part of the Uruguay IV Battalion. The unit, according to the statement, is working “uninterruptedly to comply with the United Nations mandate, as well as to guarantee the evacuation of non-essential civilian and military personnel from the city of Goma.”

South Africa’s department of defense said seven soldiers from the SAMIDRC were killed in the last two days.

Goma, Congo: A regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts after the U.N.-S.D. strike on M23

The burning wreckage of a white armored fighting vehicle carrying UN markings could be seen on a road between Goma and Sake on Saturday, where much of the fighting was concentrated in recent days.

The U.N., along with soldiers from the Southern African Development Mission, joined the army in repelling the M23 offensive towards Goma on Saturday.

The U.N Security Council moved a meeting up on Sunday because of the violence. Congo requested the meeting, which had originally been scheduled for Monday.

The eastern city of Goma has two million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.