[Francophones] Monitoring on the situation in Goma

[Mgr Masimango Katanda]

 Dear All,
 
 I am writing this report to you monitoring the
 situation in North Kivu by
 telephone from Kindu.(situation on the 29th October), please there is some change on the ground.
 
 a) Situation in Goma
 
 Goma is quiet this morning after a night of horror
 created by retreating
 troops of the Congolese army. They shot and looted the
civilian population
 during the night. Many shops have been pillaged and
 hoouses broken into. A
 whole family (9 people including a breastfeeding baby)
 has been killed in
 Katindo area. Several corpses were found in the
 morning in the streets, the
 majority being the corpses of Congolese soldiers
 killed (presumably by the
 MONUC) while they rwere looting. Colleagues and
 partner organisation in Goma
 are all safe. Since yesterday afternoon, NGO and UN
 staff have been asked to
 regroup at assembly points designated by the MONUC for
 possible evacuation.
 This morning, Goma is almost a dead city as people are
 retrenched in their
 houses not knowing really know what is happening. 
 
 Yesterday evening, panic caused by retreating troops,
 by rumours of the CNDP
 entering Goma and by the movement of the displaced
 people from Kibumba who
 forced their way into Goma (they were blocked from
 entering Goma on Tuesday)
 created a displacement of a number of people toward
 the neighbouring Sake
 region in Masisi. Its is reported that most of those
 who left Goma for Sake
 are the families of the retreating Congolese soldiers.
 The majority of Goma
 population stayed at home.
  
 For the moment, it is not possible to evaluate the
 scale of the disaster
 created by this situation. We hope to get more
 information in the coming
 
 b) Situation in Lubero
 
 Lubero is a region situated +/-150 km North of Goma
 town. Since the beginning
 of the fighting, wounded soldiers and civilians
 together with other displaced
 peole have moved to Kanyabayonga, Kayna and Kirumba
 cities situated in
 Lubero. Yesterday, tension was noticed among the
 population following the
 increasing number of retreating troops and wounded
 soldiers in the region.
 All Internataional NGOs  have evacuated
 their personnel toward
 Butembo and Beni. It is feared that if Goma  fall 
 to the rebel, the
 retreating soldiers will commit brutalities on the
 population. Most of the
 displaced people in Kanyabayonga are the families of
 retreating soldiers,
 mostly their wives. We continue to monitor the
 situation and will keep you
 informed of the development.
 We need to be prepared for a rapid response to this
 situation. However, from
 the present point it is difficult to determine what will be next step of both groups. 
 Bishop Bahati of Bukavu Diocese will send you more update situation.
 
 Let us see how
 things develop during
 the coming weeks and please keep bound us together in Prayers. 
 
 Bishop Masimango Katanda




      
-------------- section suivante --------------
Une pièce jointe HTML a été nettoyée...
URL: http://justus.anglican.org/pipermail/francophones.justus/attachments/20081101/7e2c8778/attachment.html