Rebels closer to taking key DR Congo city

Newshour

BBC

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4.4 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

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Summary

The United Nations in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, tells us the city has mostly fallen to rebels backed by Rwanda. We ask what this means for the people of the city and the region.

Also in the programme: A fatal crush at the world's biggest religious festival in India; and confirmation hearings loom for President Trump's controversial pick for health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Junior.

(Photo: Fighting rages in Goma after M23 rebel offensive, The Democratic Republic of Congo - 28 Jan 2025. Credit: Photo by STR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service.
0:06.8	We're coming to you live from London.
0:08.6	I'm James Menendez.
0:10.4	And we're going to begin today in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the city of Goma,
0:15.1	which sits right on this vast country's eastern border next to Rwanda.
0:19.3	It is a vital hub commercially and strategically,
0:23.9	and a major prize for the group of rebels known as M23, who've been edging ever closer to capturing
0:30.3	it over the past few days. It's also home to nearly two million people, perhaps half a million
0:36.5	of which are people who fled the fighting
0:38.5	as the rebels advanced. They're now caught up in the thick of it once again with conditions
0:43.6	in Goma deteriorating fast. A meeting between the presidents of Congo and Rwanda, which backs the
0:50.2	rebels, was meant to take place today in Kenya, but now looks like it's off,
0:54.4	despite growing international calls for a ceasefire.
0:58.1	Shortly before we came on the air,
0:59.4	I spoke to Vivienne van der Peer,
1:01.2	who's in GOMA.
1:02.4	She is deputy head of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC.
1:07.0	And I asked her, who controls Goma right now?
1:10.8	That would be the M23.
1:13.2	And so they're completely in control of the city, do you think?
1:16.5	Completely is a big word.
1:18.4	They control the city.
	...

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