According to DRC Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba, more than 5,700 people have also been injured.
Since January, when M23 rebels escalated their conflict with government forces and took control of the city, more than 8,500 people have been killed in Goma and the surrounding areas in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to authorities.
More than 5,700 injuries have been reported, according to Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba’s statement on Thursday.
Over 8,500 people have already been laid to rest in the city of Goma. At a press briefing on the most recent assessment of the humanitarian situation in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, Kamba informed reporters, “We still have about 30 bodies in our morgues.”
“In the last two days alone, we retrieved 23 bodies of people killed between February 23 and 25.”
As Kamba pointed out, “four trucks have so far picked up young people to force them to join our enemies.” The government also denounced the forced enlistment of youth in rebel activities.
1,500 more fatalities
The prime minister stated earlier this week that the death toll has increased by at least 1,500, with at least 7,000 people having been killed since January.
Rwandan-backed M23 rebels claimed control of Goma on January 27, while the Kinshasa-based administration asserted that Rwandan troops were in the city.
At least 11 people were killed and 65 injured when two explosives detonated at an M23 rebel rally in Bukavu, another city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that was taken over by the armed organization, on Thursday.
Minority Congolese Tutsis claim they are subjected to discrimination because of their ethnic ties to Rwanda’s Tutsi community, and the M23 claims to be protecting their interests.
