A memorial service was held in the eastern Congolese city of Goma on Monday for 200 people who lost their lives during the ongoing conflict between government forces and rebel groups in the country’s violence-ridden east.
While the exact timing and details of their deaths remain uncertain, authorities confirmed the victims included unarmed civilians and volunteer defense forces, all caught in the crossfire of the renewed insurgency.
A memorial service in Goma on Monday, attended by government officials from Kinshasa, local authorities, and grieving families, honored 200 victims of ongoing conflict in eastern Congo.
“The government must find a solution so that we can live in peace. We’ve suffered enough,” stated Safi Bahuma, who attended in memory of her brother.
The M23 rebels have reignited an insurgency in the region since 2022.
Authorities in Congo, alongside the United Nations, the United States, and other Western governments, have accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group.
Rwanda denies these claims, which have heightened tensions with Kinshasa.
Fighting in the region has displaced over 1.7 million people from North Kivu, contributing to a record 7.2 million displaced across the country due to various conflicts, 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?” Stated Chantal Chambu Mwavita, North Kivu’s minister for humanitarian affairs, reflected on the ongoing strife.
She assured that efforts were being made to find a solution.
In addition to the conflict, Congo is at the center of a global mpox outbreak declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation. Vaccines are expected to arrive soon to combat the new strain.
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