The battle hardened and well equipped M23 fighters are considering capturing Goma city according to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monusco).
Monusco has quickly started preparing for the M23 moves aimed at overrunning Goma.
According to emerging details, the Monusco troops have since Monday deployed the first convoy of soldiers to Kimoka, 2 kilometers from Sake on the Kilolirwe-Kitshanga axis.
This deployment is part of the joint operation called Springbok, launched with great fanfare with the Congolese army.
According to this coalition, the main objective of the operation would be to protect the city of Goma, capital of the North Kivu province and the city of Sake against the advance of M23 fighters.
“We decided, first of all, to establish a solid line of defense at the entrance to Goma and Sake. For the moment it is a defensive approach, but if illegal armed groups try to attack Sake and Goma, we will move from a defensive position to an offensive position,” explained General Otávio Rodrigues de Miranda Filho.
With this operation, Monusco would now be able to pull the trigger to protect Goma and Saké, which since the fall of Bunagana and the occupation of several dozen other entities in the territories of Masisi, Rutshuru and Nyiragongo , did not have the nerve to raise a single finger against the M23.
“Monusco troops are not capable of beating the M23”
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in September 2022, bluntly admitted Monusco’s “powerlessness and incapacity” to resolve the puzzle of insecurity in the Eastern part marked by the resurgence of local and foreign armed groups.
During an interview on Radio France Internationale on September 18, 2022, Guterres affirmed that the M23 is better equipped than Monusco.
According to Guterres, the M23 is today a modern army with more advanced equipment than the equipment of the UN forces.
“We [the UN and the international community] are in an extremely difficult situation. See the M23. The M23 was the reason for these latest demonstrations, but also the fact that the United Nations are not capable of beating the M23,” said Guterres in an interview broadcast by France 24 television channel and Radio France Internationale (RFI).
“What is necessary, in my opinion, and this is the main thing, is to find a serious discussion between Congo, Rwanda and Uganda so that we can have a joint perspective to avoid this permanent situation. which always makes us, when we make progress, go back,” said Guterres.
“These countries must understand each other mutually and these countries must cooperate effectively for the security of eastern Congo, and also for the security guarantees, we must not forget, of Rwanda and Uganda,” Guterres added.
