A rebel militia known as M23 has seized the key Congolese city of Goma, threatening displaced civilians and raising fears of a broader war.
According to the United Nations and the United States, M23 is directed and supported by Rwanda; the U.N. says Rwanda has sent thousands of its troops into Congo.
Some 500,000 people fled their homes in eastern Congo as the rebels advanced on Goma, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
While the fighting in Goma has stopped for the moment, the humanitarian situation is alarming, with bodies rotting in the streets and water and electricity cut off. “The situation is catastrophic,” Abdou Rahamane Sidibé, a senior surgeon with the International Committee of the Red Cross, texted from a hospital in Goma.
The conflict has its roots in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, which spilled over into Congo, leading to decades of fighting. Like the leaders of Rwanda, M23 is mostly made up of people from the Tutsi ethnic group.
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