In the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fighting between the army and M23 rebels has been raging for several days in Mweso.
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Clashes in Mweso, a town in North Kivu, have left several dozen dead since January 23, many of them civilians. Even more people were injured. On site, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reports a humanitarian situation which is increasingly deteriorating.
Contacted by RFI, Tchalgar Tahiroglu, MSF coordinator in Mweso, indicates that it is becoming very complicated to rescue civilians.
“ The clashes approached the hospital, our Doctors Without Borders base, the parish and the bases of other humanitarian organizations. We got a few bullets into the base. In the hospital, there was a stray bullet that injured a nurse.
“ The hospital is seen as a secure place and consequently, since the start of the clashes, there have been 8,000 people who have taken refuge there. Today, all medical activities continue, whether in the hospital or in the supported health center, and therefore we deplore this situation where the fighting has come too close to these structures..
“ Not to mention that this situation makes humanitarian aid to the population more complicated. Injuries, lack of protection, new displacements, lack of secure bases… MSF Mweso teams are very worried about the consequences for civilians », alerts TchalgarTahiroglu, MSF coordinator, in Mweso.
Other clashes also took place on Saturday January 27 in Sake, about fifty kilometers south of Mweso. A child was killed and four other people were injured in exchanges of fire between the Congolese army and the M23 rebellion, according to local authorities.
Read alsoDRC: resumption of fighting in Mweso between the Congolese army and the M23