Warrior Regional Co-ordinator Patrick Ndeze sends this despatch from troubled Goma:
Congolese troops came
under fire from M23 rebels on Monday as fighting resumed just outside Goma,
army officials said.
Heavy weapons
fire was heard from the front line just 9 miles (11 kilometers) outside the city. Hostilities
resumed last week after a period of relative calm, and by Thursday the new United
Nations intervention brigade shelled rebel positions for the first time.
Both sides
suffered heavy casualties over the weekend, with more than 50 rebels killed and
23 government soldiers dead. Three U.N. peacekeepers were also wounded.The Congolese are
fighting with the help of the U.N. intervention brigade, was created
after the M23 rebels invaded and briefly held Goma in November.
The M23 has been bombarding Goma from its positions just north of the strategic city, killing
civilians in Goma's residential neighborhoods. By Saturday, scores of angry
residents took to the streets in protest, claiming that the U.N. had not done
enough to protect them. A U.N. car was set on fire, and in the melee two
protesters were killed.
The total of the
wounded Congolese troops at the military hospital is now 720, according to army
chaplain Lea Masika. The city is now silent with both sides reloading their
arsenals. Banks and businesses remain closed. Most of the NGO’s have
closed their operations in Goma and fled to Rwanda to monitor the situation
from there.