Two people – a displaced person and a Wazalendo militiaman – died in Goma, in the east of the DRC, on Tuesday March 5, at Lac Vert. This neighborhood has been overpopulated with displaced people since the M23 offensive, supported by Rwanda, launched in February. There, civilians rub shoulders with a multitude of armed men, Congolese soldiers or members of pro-government armed groups. A presence which has increased insecurity, residents denounce.
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With our correspondent in Goma, Coralie Pierret
“ The authorities always arrive too late », deplores a representative of local civil society, Tuesday March 5, after the arrival of a delegation of soldiers and militiamen, sent to calm the spirits in Goma, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
During the night from Monday to Tuesday, in the Lac Vert district of Goma, armed men belonging to loyalist troops shot a civilian displaced by war, several sources confirm. An assassination which caused the ire of the crowd.
On Tuesday morning, tires were burned on the road. A Muzalendo – the name given to pro-government militiamen allied with the Congolese army (also called Wazalendo) – was burned by an angry group. Wazalendos and regular troops have in fact rubbed shoulders with civilians since the withdrawal of loyalist forces towards Goma in mid-February.
Since then, insecurity has only grown. Theft, racketeering, rape… Residents claim to have alerted the local authorities several times before this tragedy. “ Alerts left unanswered », assures a displaced person.
Monday, a handful of Congolese defied the ban to demonstrate and took to the streets of Goma to protest against the difficult daily life: the rise in prices, the increase in taxes, and the harassment of armed men in the city, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are crowded together due to the conflict.
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