Civil society workers arrange coffins of civilians killed during the clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), at a mourning ceremony held at the Stade de l'Unite in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi
(Reuters) - Congo's eastern city of Goma held a memorial service on Monday for 200 victims of the conflict between the army and rebels that are waging a renewed insurgency in the vast central African country's militia-plagued east.
The time and circumstances of the killings were unclear. Authorities said all were direct or indirect victims of the fighting, ranging from unarmed civilians to volunteer defense forces.
The memorial attended by government officials that had traveled from Kinshasa, along with local officials and family members.
“The government must find a solution so that we can live in peace. We've suffered enough. We're tired of burying,” said Safi Bahuma, a relative attending in memory of a brother.
The M23 rebels have been waging a fresh insurgency in the vast central African country's militia-plagued east since 2022.
Congo authorities, the United Nations, the United States and other Western governments have accused Rwanda of backing the group. Rwanda denies the accusations, which have inflamed relations with Kinshasa.
The fighting has driven more than 1.7 million people from their homes in North Kivu, taking the total number of Congolese displaced by multiple conflicts to a record 7.2 million, according to U.N. estimates.
"We ask ourselves these questions every day: What is so expensive to obtain that it costs the blood of Congolese people? What mineral is so valuable that it must cost the blood of the Congolese?" said Chantal Chambu Mwavita, the minister for humanitarian affairs in North Kivu. “Every day, every moment, we're looking for the solution, and I can assure you that we're working on it.”
Congo is also the epicentre of an mpox outbreak that the World Health Organization declared to be a global public health emergency last month. Vaccines are set to arrive within days to fight the new strain of the virus.
(Editing by Aurora Ellis)
