Congo - "The Road to Goma Is Now Open to the Rebels"

by Michael Kleinman

Published October 29, 2008 @ 07:24PM PST

[Civilians fleeing in eastern Congo - Footage from Sky News]

Rebel commander Laurant Nkunda declared a unilateral ceasefire earlier today, yet there are reports that fighting resumed this evening.

As a UN spokesman declared, "The Congolese army has abandoned most of their positions. The road to Goma is now open to the rebels.” Nkunda's forces are rumored to be within five miles of Goma.

Meanwhile, Alan Doss, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for the DRC, announced: "We are going to act against any effort to take over a city or any major population centre by force." (For the full text of his comments, see here.)

As the rebels draw nearer, civilians and Congolese soldiers continue to stream out of Goma. According to a UNHCR official in the city:

"There is absolute panic. As of ten minutes ago, the war has arrived in the streets. There are columns of army running away. They are basically abandoning the city.”

(There are also reports that Congolese troops are looting the city as they retreat.)

In a statement earlier today, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon declared that the fighting was "creating a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions."  It is becoming increasingly difficult to access the thousands and thousands of refugees.  Goma alone is home to over 600,000 people, not including those displaced from fighting earlier this week

The UN has evacuated most civilian staff, while a number of aid agencies (including Save the Children and World Vision) are also evacuating.  Angry crowds have attacked at least some of the convoys.  A UN staff person described the situation: "It was pretty horrible. Angry youths threw large stones. Windscreens and windows were broken, but I don't think anyone was hurt." 

Below are two additional accounts of what it's like in the city.  As one aid worker wrote on Nicholas Kristof's blog On the Ground:

I came back to the house around 4pm and the town centre was an eerie sight. All the shops were shut and padlocked, but there were hundreds of young men standing around outside, just waiting for the soldiers to come by and break in. Jo is still at the hospital to deal with emergencies. He says the FARDC came to take away the ambulances, but Jo would not let them have them. They tried to take my little RAV4 on the way home but I had a car full of people and we did not stop to pick up any hitch hikers! Now there is sporadic shooting all over town. It’s not fighting, it’s the sort of shooting that goes with looting; the target is padlocks. The danger to civilians is stray bullets. In Birere, Prince’s father has just now caught a stray bullet in the leg.

Emmanuel de Merode, the Chief Warden of Virunga National Park, is also blogging from Goma:

Confusion is probably the only way to describe the situation.  There is a lot of shooting in town, with some heavy weapons further away.  Everyone is staying at home.  There has been some looting, mainly armed men stealing cars and motorbikes. Laurent Nkunda made a statement on television and radio announcing a unilateral cease-fire, which is encouraging, but unfortunately does not translate into a peaceful evening.

There is still a Congolese military presence in town and for the time being, it seems that the town is not in rebel hands, but I can’t say that with any certainty.  No doubt we will know in the morning.

More news below:

- France, which holds the rotating EU Presidency, has raised the idea of deploying European troops to the area, but some countries have expressed reluctance.  As Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner described at a press conference:

"We have discussed a group that is called the tactical group. This tactical group is a military guard that on a rotating basis can offer between 400 and 1,500 men whom we could deploy in the name of Europe within 8 to 10 days. Is it possible? For the moment a certain number of countries have refused."

- For an account of the rescue of twelve rangers from Virunga National Park, see here.