Goma, Congo (AP) – At least 13 peacekeepers and foreign soldiers have been killed in a fight with M23 rebels in East Congo, UN and military officials said on Saturday.
M23 is made. The main regional benefits In recent weeks, the eastern city of Goma has been surrounded, which has about two million people and is a regional center of security and humanitarian efforts.
The UN Security Council extended an emergency meeting on growing violence to Sunday morning (10am). The Congo requested the meeting, which was actually scheduled on Monday.
On Saturday, the Congo military said it stopped the M23 attack on Goma with the help of its allies, including the UN squad and a SamidrC, also known as the Samidrc.
“Rwanda -backed M23 Goma is clearly exploiting the presidential transfer to the United States – Rwanda -backed M23 is clearly exploiting the presidential transfer to the United States,” said Kate Hackson, director of advocacy for Africa at Amnesty International USA – Amnesty International USA. The danger is packed up. ”
Congo, the United States and the UN experts have accused Rwanda of backing M23, which is primarily ethnic, which was separated from the Congo army more than a decade ago.
Rwanda’s government denies the claim, but last year acknowledged that it had military and missile systems to protect its security in the eastern Congo, indicating the formation of Congo’s forces near the border. UN experts estimate. Rwanda has 4000 forces in the Congo.
The burning debris of a white armored fighter with a UN mark can be seen on a road between Saturday and Saka on Saturday, where most of the fighting has been the center of the fighting.
A UN official told the Associated Press that two South African peace troops were killed on Friday, while Uruguayan Blue Helmet was killed on Saturday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
In addition, Malawi’s three peacekeepers were killed in East Congo, the United Nations said in Malawi on Saturday.
The South African Department of Defense said in a statement that seven Samidrc South African soldiers were also killed during clashes with M23 in the past two days.
In a statement issued by the Uruguayan army on Saturday, the name of its member killed in the Congo was identified as Rodfu Alwariz, which was part of the Uruguay IV Battalion. According to the statement, the unit “is working uninterrupted to guarantee the withdrawal of unnecessary civilians and military personnel from Goma city, in addition to complying with the United Nations mandate.”
The military said, “Various steps have been taken to improve the safety of our soldiers, which are operating in negative circumstances.” It added that four Uruguayan soldiers were also injured. Three of them remained in Goma while the fourth was shifted to Uganda for treatment.
Since 2021, the Congo government and coalition forces, including the Samidrc and the UN, have been keeping M23 away from Goma.
The UN peacekeeping army, also known as Monusco, entered the Congo more than two decades ago and has about 14,000 peacekeepers.
South Africa’s Defense Minister Angi Motskiga was visiting the Congo’s troops as part of the UN peacekeeping mission on the day that soldiers were killed.
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The benchro reported to Dakar, Senegal. The Associated Press Author in Cape Town, South Africa, Jerlde Umayyad and Regina Garcia Cano in Karakas, Venezuela, co -operated the report.
