DRC: Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner warns of an unprecedented attack in Goma

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo warned on Sunday that a “attack of unprecedented intensity” unfolded before the eyes of the whole world, as rebel forces and allied Rwandan troops entered the suburbs of Goma.

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner spoke at an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council. The Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group has made significant advances along the Rwandan border in recent weeks, moving closer to Goma, a city of nearly 2 million people and a nerve center for security and efforts humanitarians in the region.

Bintu Keita, the United Nations special representative for Congo, clarified during Sunday’s emergency meeting that despite peacekeeping forces’ support for the Congolese armed forces, the M23 and Rwandan troops had managed to enter the Munigi district, on the outskirts of Goma.

During this meeting, Rwanda’s ambassador to the UN, Ernest Rwamucyo, blamed the Congolese government, stressing that “Over the past three decades, the instability, attacks, infiltrations, projectile fire and human losses caused by armed groups in Rwanda have come almost exclusively from across the border, from the DRC.”