Red Cross Escorts More than 1,300 DR Congo Soldiers Out of Rebel City

Red Cross escorts more than 1,300 DR Congo soldiers out of rebel city

The eastern city of Goma was taken over by the M23 armed group in January. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the operation had been 'complex' and involved long negotiations with MONUSCO, the government and M23, which had refused to allow evacuations through Goma's airport, closed since the takeover.

More than 1,300 Congolese military and police personnel were evacuated from the city of Goma to the hands of armed group M23 in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the capital Kinshasa, announced the International Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday in a press release.

Disarmed Congolese forces back in Kinshasa - CAJ News Africa

from JEAN KASSONGO in Kinshasa, DRCDRC BureauKINSHASA, (CAJ News) – THE International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has transported 1 359 disarmed members of the government forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and their families from war-torn Goma to Kinshasa, the capital. Between April 30 and May 15, they travelled for nearly 2,000 kilometres – and across a front line. “This operation shows how important and irreplaceable the ro…

Several unarmed Congolese police officers, soldiers and their families have since January sought refuge at UN peacekeeping bases in the city of Goma in the DR Congo, where rebel groups took control in January.

More than 1,300 Congolese government troops and their families have been evacuated from Goma in eastern Congo to the capital Kinshasa, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported on Thursday. Since January, the city of millions has been in the hands of the rebel moving M23 (Mouvement 23 Mars). ttn-39

"This marks the conclusion of the operation, which began on April 30," said the Secretary-General's Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, at a press briefing in New York. Following the capture of Goma, the main city in North Kivu province, by M23 rebels in late January, the mission [...]