News agency correspondents reported a demonstration on 18 January in the streets of Goma against the presence of the East African force (EAC) in eastern DRC, with police trying to disperse the demonstrators and journalists.
One of the activists of a youth group, co-organizer of the march, told the media on the spot that “the population does not want this EAC force anymore, which they find useless and does not act against the massacres they are undergoing”.
These EAC forces, which the population considers ineffective, are soldiers from Kenya and Burundi, deployed in North Kivu to help Congolese soldiers deal with the M23 rebels.
Another protester told the press that “the population does not need the EAC forces, who for them are only doing tourism”.
Since the M23 rebels took up arms again in 2021, the national army has entered into combat with this terrorist group and the M23 group is trying to reign in Congolese territory. Dead town” operations started on Wednesday in Ituri province to denounce the repeated killing of civilians.