gaining ground in other areas of eastern Congo<\/a> and advancing on another provincial capital, Bukavu, in South Kivu.<\/p>\nOn Tuesday, U.N, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told journalists they had reports of heavy fighting in South Kivu, though \u201cwe don\u2019t have any reports of the M23 moving closer to Bukavu.\u201d<\/p>\n
The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts. That’s far more than in 2012, when they briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure. The M23 are the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups active in Congo\u2019s east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world\u2019s technology.<\/p>\n
Congo’s government has said it is open to talks to resolve the conflict, but that dialogue must occur within the context of previous peace agreements. Rwanda and the rebels have accused Congo of defaulting on previous agreements.<\/p>\n
Regional leaders are meeting Friday and Saturday in Tanzania to discuss the conflict.<\/p>\n
Also Tuesday, Congo\u2019s interior minister, Jacquemain Shabani, said the death toll in last week’s fighting had reached 2,000, asserting that bodies had been put into one or more mass graves. Shabani called them “victims of massacres perpetrated by the Rwandan occupation army.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no immediate Rwanda comment.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the U.N. health agency said at least 900 people had been killed in the fighting in Goma between the rebels and Congolese forces.<\/p>\n
Residents continued to bury bodies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just saw the conditions in which our Congolese brothers were buried, our children who were shot during the events in Goma,” Elisha Dunia, the father of one victim, told The Associated Press at a cemetery in the city. \u201cWe are heartbroken, and we ask for peace to return to our country.”<\/p>\n
Debors Zuzu, also at the cemetery, said he lost three family members, two in a bomb explosion while another was shot. He said he was devastated.<\/p>\n
“Our biggest plea is for the leaders to ensure that the war ends because war has no value. We want peace in Goma,” Zuzu said. \u201cIf everyone dies, I don\u2019t know who the leaders will govern.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, called for the urgent reopening of the airport in Goma, calling it \u201ca lifeline” for the evacuation of wounded people and the delivery of aid.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Kamale reported from Kinshasa, Congo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GOMA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s government on Tuesday described the unilateral ceasefire declared by Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo as “false communication,”