GOMA, Congo According to the U.N. health agency, fighting between Congolese government forces and rebels supported by Rwanda in the important eastern city of Goma this week killed at least 900 people, up from the 773 previously reported.
After five days of combat during which the M23 rebels seized over the city, the World Health Organisation reported that as of last Friday, at least 900 bodies had been found in the streets of Goma. Nearly 2,900 people were injured in the violence, according to the WHO. The preliminary death toll was previously set at 773 by the Congo’s government and the United Nations.
According to U.N. experts, the M23 rebels have 4,000 men from neighboring Rwanda, which is a significant increase from when they originally took Goma in 2012. Of the more than 100 armed factions fighting for control of the mineral-rich east of Congo, which contains enormous reserves essential to a large portion of global technology, they are the most powerful.
