Author: Caleb Kabanda, Ruth Maclean and Guerchom Ndebo
Published on: 01/02/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
Rwanda-backed rebels took control of Goma, a city of two million in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Hospitals are overflowing with the wounded, and the city morgue with the dead. The Congolese military that was supposed to protect them has been vanquished. A commander of the 231st infantry battalion of the Congolese Army climbed down from the cabin of one of the trucks. The captured commander, Lt. Col. John Asegi, explained that they had no choice but to surrender. As the M23 rebels strode around the yard preparing for the trucks’ departure, they looked more like an army. Corneille Nangaa gave Goma’s citizens a taste of their new reality under the powerful militia. He was flanked by men in helmets and battle gear. But the situation in Gomas is far from normal. Dead bodies lie in the streets. Cholera is breaking out. Most vulnerable is Goma’s displaced population, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands. For more than a year, people have fled the rebel advance through eastern Congo’s countryside and small towns. Three families who fled one of the camps hid in an educational center, surviving on some beans and rice they were given. But they have no idea what they will do now. Ruth Maclean is the West Africa bureau chief for The Times. She covers 25 countries including Nigeria, Congo, the countries in the Sahel region and Central Africa.
Original: 1242 words
Summary: 250 words
Percent reduction: 79.87%
I'm a bot and I'm open source