Anti-Rwanda demonstrators burned Western international locations’ flags on Monday within the metropolis of Goma in japanese Democratic Republic of the Congo, accusing them of supporting Kigali by means of the M23 rebels.
Combating between the largely Tutsi M23 revolt and Congolese authorities forces has flared in latest days across the city of Sake, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Goma in North Kivu province.
The DRC, the United Nations and Western international locations say Rwanda is supporting the rebels in a bid to manage huge mineral assets, an allegation Kigali denies.
A number of dozen demonstrators, some draped within the DRC flag with pink bands round their heads, trampled on the flags of the US, the European Union, France and Poland.
“We are in the street to denounce the crimes of which the Congolese are victims,” mentioned Espoir Mwinuka, an activist with the Lucha (Wrestle for Change) motion. “Rwanda kills us every day and is supported by the international community, which is why we burned these flags.”
They carried placards, studying: “Stop the massacres in the DRC”, “France = M23/Rwanda” and “To be silent is to be an accomplice.”
The demonstrators, primarily younger males, marched from town centre to the street resulting in Sake earlier than turning again.
Dozens of troopers and civilians have reportedly been killed or wounded within the newest preventing, which pushed tens of hundreds of civilians in direction of Goma.
On Saturday, the Congolese military accused Rwanda of utilizing drones to assault Goma airport.
The demonstration was banned by Goma’s metropolis corridor however passed off peacefully, with no clashes between police and armed forces forces.
Sporadic preventing was reported on the front-line city of Sake on Monday.
A “bomb” fell at about noon within the Kanduki neighbourhood in town’s outskirts, killing a 12-year-old little one and injuring 5 civilians, native sources mentioned.
“One person died and five others were injured,” Joseph Maombi Mubiri, mayor of central Sake advised AFP by phone from Goma.
He mentioned the “bomb” got here from an space round Sake the place the M23 rebels are.
“The victim who died is a child of 12 years old. The injured have been taken to Sake health centre and were due to be transported to Goma,” Leopold Busanga, a civil society chief mentioned.
Armed teams have plagued the japanese DRC for many years, a legacy of regional wars fought within the Nineteen Nineties and the early 2000s.