UNITED NATIONS, January 30. /TASS/. At least 22 UN peacekeepers have been injured since the new advance by rebel units from the March 23 Movement (M23) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), spokesman for the UN secretary general Stephane Dujarric said at a news briefing.
"The total number of UN peacekeepers injured since the most recent assault by the M23 now stands at 22 and I take this opportunity to reiterate that attacks against UN peacekeepers are not only unacceptable, but they also may constitute a war crime," he said.
The official has also reiterated that since the onset of clashes in the DRC, three peacekeepers have been killed, two from South Africa and one from Uruguay.
On January 26, rebel units of the March 23 Movement, backed by Rwandan forces, entered Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo. In a number of neighborhoods in the city, there is ongoing fighting against defending DRC army units.
In 2012, the M23 group was formed, composed of deserters from the Congolese army. The rebels, most of whom are Tutsi, began hostilities in eastern Congo in January 2021, capturing several towns and over 100 villages in North Kivu province. The DRC government accuses Rwanda of supporting the rebels.
The conflict in eastern Congo has raged for many years. After the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda and their defeat in the civil war, some government forces, mostly Hutus, withdrew to what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). There, they clashed with the local Tutsi population. Rwanda, where the Tutsis had come to power, backed the Banyamulenge, a minority ethnic group in South Kivu province. Over time, Congolese separatists aligned with them.