(25 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Goma, DR Congo – 25 January 2025
1. Wide of Congolese army vehicle heading to the front line in the vicinity of Goma
2. Various of Wazalendo, an armed group linked to Congolese government, heading to the front line
3. Congolese army vehicle in the vicinity of Goma
4. Various of streets
5. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mumbere Alain, Goma resident:
“We have been hearing bombs for 3 hours. We, the population, are scared and worried, because we don’t know where to flee to. We ask the government to do everything possible to send soldiers to the lines to see how to drive out the enemy.”
6. Armoured tank of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo leaving front line
7. Congolese army in the vicinity of Goma
8. Somme armoured tank of SADC mission
9. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Musandanya Sikuzote, Goma resident:
"We are so afraid when we see the number of dead and wounded among the military and the Wazalendo ( irregular fighters) coming from the front. We want the government to mobilize the military so that peace can return.”
10. Congolese army in vicinity of Goma
STORYLINE:
Army vehicles were headed to the front line on the outskirts of Goma in eastern Congo Saturday, as fighting between Congolese military and M23 rebels continues.
In a press release issued on Saturday, the army congratulated its soldiers and the Wazalendo armed group for their "determination" to fight "the Rwandan army (M23) in the vicinity of Goma".
It came as six U.N. peacekeepers from South Africa were killed in fighting with M23 rebels in eastern Congo, a United Nations official said Saturday.
M23 has made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling the eastern city of Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.
The United Nations said that it would temporarily relocate nonessential staff from Goma, such as administrative staff.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, in a decades long conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
On Thursday, M23 took control of the town of Sake, which is only 27 kilometers (16 miles) west of Goma and one of the last main routes into the provincial capital still under government control, according to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
Since 2021, Congo’s government and allied forces, including SADC and U.N. troops, have been keeping M23 away from Goma.
The U.N peacekeeping force, also known as MONUSCO, entered Congo more than two decades ago and has around 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.
AP video by Justin Kabumba
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