General Sylvain Ekenge has claimed that the Rwandan army and the M23 rebellion are planning an attack on the town of Goma.
Goma, with an estimated population of over one million, is located in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, between the Rwandan border, Lake Kivu, the Masisi mountains, and Rutshuru territory, partly controlled by the M23, where a military force from the East African Community (EAC) was recently deployed.
In addition to the inhabitants of this area, a million people have fled the advance of the M23 rebels to Goma, where a ceasefire has been in place since mid-March.
At last Thursday’s cabinet meeting, the new defense minister and former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba declared that the Rwandan army and M23 were planning to “occupy Goma” in a general offensive.
The army spokesman also said that Rwanda had just finished training the recruits deployed on the outskirts of Goma, in Kibumba and Rugari, areas supposed to be “under the control of the EAC force”.
It should be recalled that Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi condemned the “cohabitation observed” between EAC troops and “M23 terrorists” at a summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), inviting the East African force to leave the country at the end of June, arguing that the mission assigned to this force had not been accomplished