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<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid"><PRE> 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
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