As families recover from M23 rebels' takeover of Goma, death toll remains unclear

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(31 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Goma, DRC - 31 January 2025
1. Various of Goma resident Louise Shalukoma looking out of window that was broken in her home during fighting as M23 took control of Goma
2. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Louise Shalukoma, Goma resident:
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED++
“My God, my fourth child, when I saw that he was dead I said Lord, what am I going to do? This M23 war came for me in Goma. The neighbors went to try and recover his body, and then they threw another bomb. So he remained alone on the road. I was in the house, and I didn’t even have the strength to go and get him, so I stayed with his brothers, crying.”
3. Close of the broken window, looking towards the Rwandan border
4. Shalukoma being helped by a relative as she walks near her home
5. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Louise Shalukoma, Goma resident:
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED++
“I saw bodies stacked like the bags of WFP (World Food Programme) rice. At the hospital they were arranged like stairs. They would remove them, body by body, and then you can come and look. We had a hard time watching. The courtyard of the general hospital was full.”
6. Close of Shalukoma
7. Various of Goma resident Robert Bitwaik’s home in the Kahembe neighborhood on the Rwandan border, which was hit by shelling
8. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Robert Bitwaik, Goma resident:
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED++
“On Monday, we were in the house hiding. We heard a bomb falling, and it destroyed here and there, and in front there. It damaged the television, too. We don’t know if they came from Rwanda or DRC, because we are here on the border between DRC and Rwanda.”
9. Pan of damaged home in the Kahembe neighborhood
10. Wide of the Kahembe neighborhood of Goma near the Rwandan border
STORYLINE:
In Goma’s Kahembe neighborhood, nestled at the edge of the city near the Rwandan border, signs of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels’ takeover are clear to see.

Many homes were hit by shelling as the conflict that has been raging for decades arrived at the city’s doorstep Sunday.

Louise Shalukoma lost her twelve-year-old son Samuel during the violence after a shell hit the neighborhood. One of her windows, which faces the Rwandan border, remained broken Friday.

She said that after her son was killed, neighbors tried to recover his body, but had to retreat when more projectiles were landing around them.

“So he remained alone on the road. I was in the house and I didn’t even have the strength to go and get him, so I stayed with his brothers, crying,” she said.

She said the hospital where the family went to retrieve his body was full, with bodies “stacked like the bags of WFP rice.”

Nearby, Shalukoma’s neighbor's home was badly damaged, with a gaping hole in the roof.

Robert Bitwaik said a boy hiding in the home during fighting Monday was killed when a shell fell through the roof. He put the number of dead on their street at 11 or 12.

“We heard a bomb falling, and it destroyed here and there, and in front there. It damaged the television, too,” he said.

It was still unclear Friday how many people died during M23’s takeover of Goma. Bodies of soldiers could be seen lying on the streets Thursday.

M23 leaders said in a news conference Thursday that they were asking civilians to return to normal life, and said they would be setting up an administration to govern the city.

Meanwhile, Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion and his defense minister rejected calls for talks.

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