After a week of intense battle between the Congolese army and M23 rebels, calm gradually returns to Kibumba, a town 20 kilometers north of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east.
According to Congolese officials, the Rwandan army is supporting the latter.
“I escaped and slept in a displaced persons camp near Goma for four days, but when I returned, my house had already been looted. Soldiers from Rwanda arrived in trucks and robbed numerous homes, including mine “a local explained.
More than 72,000 people left their homes in Nyiragongo and the adjoining province of Rutshuru in eight days of conflict, according to the UN. Due to overpopulation and a lack of donor cash, the refugees are now facing acute starvation.
“Because of my family, I recently left the IDP camp. I left the violence in Kibumba, but when I got in the camp, I was confronted with famine, which is now on the verge of killing me. The children are suffering from diarrhea and are unable to eat. We have not got any food assistance, which is why we have returned “another IDP stated.
Many displaced persons are still crammed into local schoolyards. They are hesitant to return home, but some of them do.
After driving the insurgents back, the Congolese army was called in. Soldiers monitor the RN2, which connects Goma to the province’s “vast north,” in considerable numbers on foot and in cars.
