PRETORIA, January 27. /TASS/. The city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become a zone of fighting between the Congolese armed forces and the rebel group called the March 23 Movement, Reuters reported, citing a senior UN official.
"Active zones of combat have spread to all quarters of the city, all the neighborhoods of the city," he said.
According to the official, there is no doubt that Rwandan troops are present in Goma to support the M23 rebels. However, it is hard to say how many Rwandan forces are engaged in the fighting, he said.
Units of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC stay in their positions, a UN spokesman said.
Corneille Nangaa, a leader of the Congo River Alliance which includes M23, said the rebels seek to seize power in the DRC.
"Our objective is neither Goma nor Bukavu but Kinshasa, the source of all the problems," he told Reuters. "We want to recreate the state."
Last summer, a DRC tribunal sentenced Nangaa to death in absentia for treason and war crimes. Nangaa previously served as head of the DRC's election commission.