Since January 26 and "until January 30, 2025, 773 deaths and 2,880 injuries have been recorded in health units," said the government spokesman and Minister of Communication on Saturday night.
Shortly afterwards, also on the social network X, Patrick Muyaya described as "carnage" the actions carried out by the "Rwandan army in Goma", capital of the province of North Kivu.
Rebels from the March 23 Movement (M23) and Rwandan troops entered Goma a week ago and have advanced in recent days into neighboring South Kivu province, posing a possible threat to the regional capital, Bukavu.
“None of these crimes will go unpunished!” promised Muyaya.
At least 700 people were killed and 2,800 injured in fighting for control of Goma between Sunday and Thursday, a UN spokesman said on Friday.
On Saturday, the president of neighboring Burundi warned on the video-sharing platform YouTube that the conflict in the DR Congo risks turning into a regional war.
“If eastern DR Congo does not have peace, the region will not have peace,” warned Evariste Ndayishimiye. “It's not just Burundi. Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, it's the whole region. It is a threat,” he continued, before adding that his country will not “let itself be threatened.”
Also on Saturday, Mozambique's president, Daniel Chapo, promised to "support the efforts" of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to bring peace to the DR Congo.
“Mozambique’s position was to continue supporting efforts that are being made mainly by Angola, which is the mediator in the conflict, through the African Union [AU],” said Chapo, after the extraordinary SADC summit held on Friday. fair fair in Harare, Zimbabwe.
However, Chapo indicated that Mozambique will not join its troops to the SADC mission fighting in the DR Congo, indicating that it will continue to be made up of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi.
Mozambique receives support from Rwanda in the fight against terrorism in the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country.
In the conflict that has been ravaging the east of the country for more than three years and which has accelerated in recent weeks, the DR Congo accuses Rwanda of wanting to plunder the region's natural resources.
Rwanda denies the accusation and says it aims to eradicate armed groups created by former Hutu leaders from the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda.
On Friday, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, warned of the risk of epidemics.
The latest variant of the Mpox virus, which spread rapidly to many countries around the world in 2024, was first detected in South Kivu.
