At least 700 killed by Sunday says UN says

The UN says that at least 700 people were killed in intense battles in Goma, the largest city in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Sunday.

UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said 2,800 people were injured, as the M23 rebels – backed by Rwanda – conquered the capital of North Kivu province.

It is now reported that the rebels are moving south to Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.

The conflict in the Eastern Congo dates back to the 1990s, but has quickly escalated in recent weeks.

The M23, which consists of ethnic Tuts, say they are fighting for minority rights, while the government of Dr. Congo says that the Rwanda-supported rebels are seeking control over the huge wealth of minerals in the Eastern region.

On Friday, Dujarric said that victim data came from an assessment made by the World Health Organization and its partners, together with the government of D -Congo, between Sunday and Thursday.

The UN spokesman also warned that the death rate would rise further.

In an attempt to stop the progress of the M23, the military D -Cong has created a protection line on the road between Goma and Bukavu, according to the AFP news agency.

Hundreds of civil volunteers were included in the defense of Bukavu.

A young man said to AFP, “I’m ready to die for my country.”

Jean -Jacques Purusi Sadiki, South Kivu Governor – M23 province, is about to have the Reuters agency that the government army and its allies are detaining the rebels, although this claim has not been inspected independently.

Earlier this week, the M23 promised to continue its offensive until it reached the capital Kinshasa, about 2600 km (1600 miles) to the west.

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the foreign minister of the country, told the BBC that Rwanda illegally occupied his country and was trying to organize a change in the regime.

Wagner said the international community had allowed Rwanda President Paul Kagame for decades with impunity and failed to accept it as a violation of international law.

Rwanda government spokesman Yolande Macolo denied the prosecution, saying that the country’s troops were located only to prevent the conflict from overflowing to its territory.

“We are not interested in war. We are not interested in annexation. We are not interested in changing the regime,” Macolo told the BBC Newsday program.

UN experts last year that Rwanda had between 3000 and 4,000 troops working with M23 in the Eastern Congo.

On Friday, the South Africa Regional Community Unit (SADC) announced its support for the Congo at a meeting at the top of the Zimbabwe.

In a statement, the 16-member group “confirmed their solidarity and unwavering commitment to continue to support the DRC in its quest to protect its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

SADC has sent peacekeeping troops, mainly from South Africa, to Dr. Congo to fight armed groups such as M23 and restore peace in the mineral region after decades of unrest.

Sixteen South African soldiers were killed in clashes with M23 around Goma last week.

The struggle also worsened the humanitarian crisis in the Eastern Congo.

Shelley Takral from the UN World Food Program said the city’s residents had exhausted food, clean water and medical supplies.

“The supply chain has really been strangled at the moment if you think about accessing land, access to air when everything is closed,” she told AFP.

Since the beginning of 2025, more than 400,000 people have been forced by their homes, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

C Congo is the second largest country in Africa – about two -thirds the size of Western Europe – and borders nine different countries.

Previous conflicts in the country in the 1990s were harming several neighbors and was called world wars in Africa.