Deaths Recorded In DR Congo Mass Prison Break

Hours after M23 fighters and Rwandan troops entered the besieged Congolese city of Goma, a security source informed AFP that a large jailbreak was happening at a prison there.

The prison, which holds around 3, 000 inmates, was “totally torched” following a huge jailbreak that resulted in “deaths”, the security source said, without giving further details. Fleeing prisoners could be seen in the surrounding streets, according to an AFP journalist.

Gunshots rang out the night of January 26, 2025 in Goma city centre, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, besieged by a militia with the Rwandan army’s backing, according to AFP reporters.

Nearly one million people were displaced by the violence in the mineral-rich North Kivu province, where a million people live and nearly one million are living. After nightfall, loud explosions could be heard in the capital.

Kenya announced on Sunday that Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and the DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi had agreed to attend a summit in the next two days as the pressure mounts internationally for a resolution to end the conflict in Goma.

After Sunday nightfall, large explosions were heard across the main city of the mineral-rich North Kivu province, AFP correspondents said.

Fighting has broken out between M23 fighters supported by Rwandan troops and UN peacekeepers on Goma’s southern border for several days.

The region’s volatile region has been battling regional rivalries, ethnic disputes, and armed militia conflicts for more than 30 years, and the battle for Goma represents the most recent chapter of conflict in eastern DRC.

The DRC demanded sanctions from its neighbor for aiding the M23, accusing Rwanda of making a “declaration of war” by sending more troops over the border.

Late on Sunday, the UN Security Council called for the withdrawal of “external forces,” but it made no effort to name them in a statement.

The M23 has recently advanced quickly against Congolese troops defending the city, advancing quickly after receiving the support of several thousand Rwandan soldiers.

In the ongoing fighting, Rwanda has abducted around a dozen foreign peacekeepers, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday requested Kigali withdraw its armed forces.

Because of the fighting near its border with the DRC, Rwanda’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday that it needed to take a “sustained defensive posture.”

However, Kenya’s president, William Ruto, later announced a summit of the East African Community regional bloc with Rwandan and DRC leaders to discuss the crisis.

The talks would “deliberate on this crisis and chart a way forward”, Ruto said in a statement.

– A ‘ frontal assault ‘ –

The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting earlier on Sunday in response to the crisis, and Kinshasa’s top diplomat issued a warning that more Rwandan troops were “in a deliberate and open violation” of sovereignty.

Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, the country’s foreign minister, declared, “This is a frontal assault, a declaration of war that no longer hides behind diplomatic artifice.”

Between 500 and 1, 000 Rwandan soldiers arrived on Sunday to reinforce the M23 near Goma, UN sources told AFP.

The UN Security Council, the only UN body with the authority to impose binding resolutions on its members, should be urged to seek specific sanctions against Rwandan officials.

Rwanda rejected the calls for a withdrawal.

“This fighting close to the Rwandan border continues to present a serious threat to Rwanda’s security and territorial integrity, and necessitates Rwanda’s sustained defensive posture”, the statement said.

– Retracted diplomats

In response to a breakdown in relations, both Rwanda and the DRC have taken their diplomats out of each other’s capitals.

The M23 quickly accelerated toward Goma, a city with more than a million residents and nearly as many displaced people as Kagame and Tshisekedi had their peace talks withered in mid-December.

Ahead of the emergency meeting, Guterres urged Rwanda “to cease support to the M23 and withdraw from DRC territory”, according to a statement by the UN chief’s spokesman.

Rwanda has never been a member of the UN Security Council, which is unprecedented.

However, according to a report from the UN experts, Kigali was exporting the mineral wealth of the DRC to profit from exporting it abroad. It said around 3, 000 to 4, 000 Rwandan troops were backing the M23.

Rwanda’s ambassador to the UN, Ernest Rwamucyo, rejected DRC’s accusations, blaming Kinshasa for the deteriorating situation.

Goma was briefly occupied at the end of 2012 by the M23, or March 23 Movement, but the group withdrew after a deal.

It regrouped several years later after being militarily defeated by DRC forces and the UN in 2013.

The region has already signed several ceasefires and truces, with the most recent one coming at the end of July.

Treynee soldiers who were serving as peacekeepers in the conflict zone were all killed on Saturday, according to three nations. Members of the UN force, known as MONUSCO, as well as a regional peacekeeping mission from southern Africa, were among the dead.

The victims’ names came from Uruguay, three from Malawi, and three more from South Africa.

Source: Channels TV