The last barrier before Goma, Sake remains in FARDC hands but is encircled by the M23

Published on: 02/14/2024 – 00:42

3 minutes

All arrangements have been made. Saake is under the control of the Congolese armed forces, assured Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muaya, whose defense minister visited Goma this Tuesday, the second visit in less than a week, Jean-Pierre Bemba. According to the latter, everything is being done to save the population of Sake, Goma and surrounding areas. Kinshasa, he insisted, had set out to retake all the territory.

According to our information, the city center of Sake was controlled by the Congolese army this Tuesday evening, assisted by the armed groups, Wazalando. The M23 rebels, who launched the offensive about a week ago, are said to be the last barrier before Goma in the hills surrounding the city and which are at the crossroads of several roads linking the capital to the rest of the province, and allowing it to supply. On social networks, the United Nations Agency for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that humanitarian access to the area is increasingly reduced.

Also readFighting in eastern DRC: “Throughout Masisi, famine is coming,” says local official

Early on Monday evening, a bomb hit a camp for displaced people at the northern exit of Sake, killing at least three people and injuring around ten. The intensity of the fighting has displaced thousands of civilians, recalls Stephan Goetgebuer, head of the Doctors Without Borders mission.

On Monday evening, during an emergency meeting, members of the UN Security Council condemned the M23 offensive and expressed renewed concern over the escalation of violence in the east of the country. They reiterated their condemnation of all armed groups operating in the country and “ All actors should resume dialogue to achieve a ceasefire “

Rwandan armored vehicles with radar and missile launchers

The call comes as the UN revealed new military means being used by the M23 rebels. According to this internal UN document, a surface-to-air missile, believed to be from Rwandan defense forces, targeted a UN surveillance drone last Wednesday without hitting it.

The missile would have been fired from an armored vehicle in an area controlled by the M23, the confidential document specifies. Two aerial photographs, attached to the report, show the armored vehicle with a radar and missile launcher system mounted on its roof. The photos were taken about 70 km north of Goma by a drone targeted by the missile, suggest the report’s authors, who add that French military intelligence has confirmed the armored vehicle is Rwandan.

The authors note an increase in traditional forces engaged in conflict. They believe that these new anti-aircraft means used by the M23 pose a high threat to all DRC government and MONUSCO aircraft in the region.