The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FO) said Thursday that 75 Pakistani have been transferred to Rwanda in the middle of the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC).
The president of Dr. Congo has promised a “vigorous” military response against the fighters backed by Rwand Tentatively today.
The capture of the M23 of most rubber, the capital of the province of North Kivu, is a dramatic escalation of a conflict of a decade that has seen it take stripes of the Democratic Republic of the East of the Congo.
It is one of an armed group chain in the Eastern RDC that has been plagued by internal and cross -border violence during the last three decades, partly dates back to the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
In a press release issued today, the FO said that around 150 Pakistani were stranded in rubber after the climbing of the conflict.
“With the active commitment of the High Commissioner of Pakistan in the Kigali ambassador, Naeemullah Khan, the Ruandesas authorities have allowed the entry of Pakistani stranded in Rwanda. Until now, around 75 Pakistani have moved to Rwanda. “
The FO added that the high commission of Pakistan in Kigali has organized accommodation and food for those affected and is also reaching the Pakistani community to identify and obtain access to any other citizen in difficulty.
“There is a probability that more Pakistani crossing Rwanda in the next few days. The staff of the high commission is in contact with each individual who has asked for help and help. In addition, the high commission is also arriving in Pakistani in the border city of Bukavu. “
He said that any affected Pakistani that requires assistance could contact the high commission at (+92 333 5328517) in WhatsApp.
The violent increase has caused international concern, with regional blocks in the east and southern Africa calling emergency summits, and the UN union, the United States, China and the European Union urging the end of the fighting.
The ‘vigorous’ response of the leader of Dr. Congo promises as the fighters backed by Rwanda advance
The president of the RDC, Felix Tshisekedi, in his first comments since the last crisis began, said in a night direction a “vigorous and coordinated response against these terrorists and their sponsors is underway.”
He launched the “silence and inaction” of the international community, describing it as a “affront” against an “unprecedented worsening of the security situation” that could lead “directly to an escalation” in the widest region of the great lakes.
Local sources said AFP Late Wednesday, the fighters supported by Kigali advanced on a new front and had confiscated two districts in the province of southern Kivu.
The Congolese army has not yet made a statement about M23 progress.
After days of intense clashes that left more than 100 dead and almost 1,000 injured, according to a AFP Tally, some residents ventured today to take stock.
“We do not want to live under the thumb of these people,” said a person, who wanted to remain anonymous AFP.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in the capital Kinshasa and will meet with TSHISEKEDI, according to sources from the Congolese government and a source of presidency.
TSHISEKEDI boycotted Wednesday’s crisis with his counterpart from Ruanda Paul Kagame.
The measure, together with the RDC and Rwanda withdrawing their diplomats from the capitals of others, “was not a good omen for a negotiated purpose in the conflict,” said the senior analyst of Africa, Ladd Serwat.
The regional bloc of the East African community requested peace, urging the RDC to “directly compromise with all interested parties, including M23”.
In a night stand in X, Kagame warned South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that his country was not “in a position to assume the role of a peacemaker or mediator.”
Thirteen South African soldiers have been killed last week in the RDC, part of a UN peacekeeping force, as well as the mission of the Southern Africa Development Community in the RDC (Samidrc).
Kagame said Samidrc “is not a peacekeeping force, and that it does not take place in this situation.”
The Southern Africa Development Community of 16 Nations will celebrate a special summit on the crisis on Friday in the capital of Zimbabwe.
Angola, who has mediated the fire between the RDC army and the M23 in the past, has also asked the Congolese and Ruandese leaders to gather urgently in Luanda.
The M23 combatants and the Ruandesas troops entered rubber on Sunday and after the clashes took control of the airport, with AFP Journalists say they were the only remaining forces in the center.
Residents could be seen in the streets today, despite fears.
“There is nothing left to eat, everything has been looted,” said Bosco, a resident who only gave a name.
“We need help with urgency.”
The offensive has increased an already humanitarian crisis in the region, causing food and water shortage and forcing half a million people from their homes this month, the United Nations said.
Previously, hundreds of Congolese soldiers and pro-family militiamen, unarmed and with white headbands, were marched by the city center by M23 combatants, said a security source.
The UN, the United States, China and the European Union have asked Ruanda to withdraw their forces from the region.
But Rwanda’s ambassador for the region of the great lakes, Vincent Karega, said AFP The M23 advance “will continue.”
It was possible that fighters could push beyond the east of the country, even for Kinshasa, he added.
The RDC is rich in gold and other minerals such as cobalt, coltan, tantalum and tin used in batteries and electronics worldwide.
Kinshasa accused Rwanda of riding the offensive to benefit from the mineral wealth of the region, a claim backed by UN experts who say that Kigali has thousands of troops in his neighbor and “de facto control” over the M23.
Rwanda has denied accusations.
Kagame has never admitted military participation, saying that Rwanda’s goal is to destroy an armed group based in the RDC, the FDLR, created by former Hutu leaders who massacred Tutsis during the genocide.
