Intense fighting between the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the M23 rebel movement is spreading the panic amongst the civilian population with children and women becoming victims, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in a statement on Thursday morning.
According to the report, at the end of last week, two children were killed when shells allegedly fired by the rebels hit a school.
“The two children attended the Saint-Gilbert school in Biruma, about 50 km north of Goma, halfway between the North Kivu capital, Goma, and Bunagana, a trade centre on the Ugandan border, which was seized on Monday by the M23 (March 23 Movement) rebels,” the report said.
Quoting Nziyumvira Joseph, an agricultural worker and father of one of the victims, the UN agency wrote:
“What happened to us is very tragic. My child was not sick, and I knew he was playing with his friends not far from home, and then I learnt that he died, I was in utter shock.
“And what a death. He was in a thousand pieces. It is a great tragedy.
“We are really really, tired. We demand more protection so that our children may live in peace now. When there’s a crackling sound, the children panic and have to flee.
“The child who died will not come back, but those who remain must be protected. Several residents have fled and still have not returned because of the terror that reigns here after this explosion.”
“People don’t sleep anymore, it’s fear that dominates. Even when you throw a stone, the inhabitants think it’s a bomb and there is fear everywhere. The residents are panicked and very stressed,” Floribert Hakizumwami, the head of the Biruma village, was also quoted in the report.