Protesters attack embassies in the capital of Congo as security forces try to stop the rebels in the east

Rubber, Congo (AP) -The Congolese security forces tried Tuesday to delay the progress of the M23 rebels backed by Rwanda who say they have captured rubber After entering the largest city in the east of the CongoAs UN officials, they reported an un specified number of bodies in the streets.

The hospitals are overwhelmed in rubber, while hundreds of thousands are fleeing from shooting and bombingThe officials said.

Protesters attack embassies in the capital

Meanwhile, protesters attacked several foreign embassies, including those of Rwanda, France and Belgium in the capital, Kinshas ethnic tensions.

The M23 rebels are one of the approximately 100 armed groups that compete for a support point in the province of Kivu North Kivu, which includes rubber, rich in critical minerals for much of world technology.

The United Nations official says violation reports, looting

There were reports of violence and gender violation committed by combatants, looting of properties, including a humanitarian warehouse, and the humanitarian and health facilities that run over the city, said the spokesman of the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office spokesman on Tuesday, Jens Laerke, in information about the media.

“The humanitarian situation in rubber and its surroundings remains extremely worrying, and this morning (there was) small fire of small fire and mortar fire throughout the city and the presence of many corpses in the streets,” said Laerke, and added that The hospitals are “struggling to manage the influx of injured people.”

Growing anger with the international community

In the capital, Kinshasa, the police triggered tear gas to the protesters while looting and setting fire to parts of the embassy buildings. Kenya and Uganda’s embassies were also attacked, according to Associated Press journalists.

The protesters demanded that the international community press Ruanda on the rebel advance.

“We denounce the hypocrisy of the international community,” Timothée Tshishimbi, one of the protesters, said. “They must tell Rwanda to stop this adventure.”

The attacks were convicted of the respective countries. The spokesman of the Congolese government, Patrick Mujah, said in an X statement that the National Police has restored the order and has reinforced the security in the embassies.

Rwanda asks the Congo leader to have conversations with M23

Rwanda Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungyrehe said that at least five people in Rwanda have been killed and another 35 wounds in the bombing of Congo. He also told the AP that, although the country has “behaved well” since the rebels entered rubber, “we have been bombarded by the military coalition” of the Congolese army and its allies.

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi “will have to accept conversations with M23 to end the situation once and for all,” added NDUHUNGIREHE.

While Ruanda denies that he is supporting the M23 rebels, he recognized last year that he has troops and missile systems in the east of the Congo, supposedly to safeguard his safety. UN experts estimate that there are even 4,000 Rwandan forces in the Congo.

The objective of the country in the Congo is to protect its borders against the attacks, the spokesman of the Rwanda Brig army. General Ronald Rwivanga told the AP, added that the appropriate measures would be “everything that encompasses it”, including the use of water, air and defense of the Earth.

Rubber is a regional and humanitarian trade center that is a shelter for hundreds of thousands of the more than 6 million people displaced by the prolonged conflict of the east of Congo over the ethnic tensions that have resulted in one of the largest humanitarian crises of the world.

It is not clear how much the rebels control

The M23 rebels He temporarily took over rubber in 2012 before being forced to retire under international pressure, and resurfaced at the end of 2021 with the growing support of Rwanda, according to experts in the government and the UN of Congo. Ruanda has denied that support.

It was not clear how much of the rebels controlled rubber, who marched to the city early Monday and cheers among residents. It was the culmination of weeks of fighting during which the rebels captured several cities in a shocking advance.

“From the morning, we have heard explosions of crepiting bombs and bullets,” said Sam Luwawa, a rubber resident. “So far we cannot say who really controls the city.”

Three South African peace forces were killed on Monday when the rebels threw a mortar shell to the rubber airport that landed in the nearby South African national defense force, while a fourth soldier succumbed to wounds suffered on the days of fighting, said the South Africa Defense Department. Tuesday.

That makes 17 peace forces and foreign soldiers who have been killed in fighting, according to UN officials and the army.

The humanitarian situation in rubber is serious, the UN says

The humanitarian situation in rubber “is extremely, extremely worrying, with a new threshold of violence and suffering achieved today,” said Bruno Lemarquis, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Congo, to journalists at a video press conference on Monday. He said that hundreds of thousands of people tried to flee violence.

Several shells hit the Charité Maternelle hospital in the rubber center, “killing and hurting civilians, including newborns and pregnant women,” Lemarquis said on Monday, describing active combat areas in all areas of the city.

Help groups report that they cannot reach the displaced people who trust them for food and other needs.

“The key roads surrounding rubber are blocked, and the city airport can no longer be used for evacuation and humanitarian efforts. According to reports, power and water have been cut to many areas of the city, ”said David Mockley, head of operations in the east of the Congo for the Christian Help Group World Vision.

The United States and others condemn Rwanda

In addition to the UN, several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and France, have condemned Rwanda for the rebel advance. However, the country blames Congo for the climbing, saying that it could not honor the past peace agreements, which requires the “sustained defensive position” of Rwanda “.

The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, condemned the progress for the rebels backed by Rwand Rwanda “as soon as possible”, the United States Department of State. Spokesman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

Congo’s opposition leader says that the president is not doing enough

The Congolese leader will address the nation in the conflict, authorities said, in the midst of growing pressure to act on climbing.

The opposition leader, Martin Fayulu, seemed to suggest that the president was not doing enough to respond to the crisis. In a statement, Fayulu requested protests against Rwanda and support for the Congo of the international community, adding: “If Mr. Félix Tshisekedi persists on the road, he will be responsible for the decrease of our nation and will have to resign. “

___

Chinedu Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Christina Malkia and Jean-Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo, Edith M. Lederer on the United Nations, Sam Mednick in Jerusalem and Rodney Muhumuza in Kambela, Uganda, contributed to this report.