Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped, the Associated Press reported. The offensive has sent thousands fleeing their homes, in addition to 1 million displaced who are already in Goma, and stretched hospitals to the limit, with hundreds of wounded coming in every day as civilians get caught in the crossfire.
In photos: Conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo
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People protest in Kinshasa, Jan. 28, 2025, against the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels' advances into eastern Congo's capital Goma.
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Residents look at the bodies of Congolese soldiers killed in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 28, 2025. Intense fighting has left bodies in the streets and overwhelmed hospitals in the besieged city of Goma, the United Nations said, as protesters furious about international inaction attacked embassies in the country's capital.
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Residents look at the bodies of Congolese soldiers killed in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 28, 2025. Intense fighting has left bodies in the streets and overwhelmed hospitals in the besieged city of Goma, the United Nations said, as protesters furious about international inaction attacked embassies in the country's capital.
Residents look at the bodies of Congolese soldiers killed in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 28, 2025. Intense fighting has left bodies in the streets and overwhelmed hospitals in the besieged city of Goma, the United Nations said, as protesters furious about international inaction attacked embassies in the country's capital.
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People protest in Kinshasa, Jan. 28, 2025, against the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels' advances into eastern Congo's capital Goma.
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United Nations truck drivers and Congolese civilians who fled from Goma, undergo security screening at the border-post in Gisenyi, Rubavu district, Rwanda, Jan. 28, 2025.
