‘We will fight Kigali! We will eat Rwanda!’
MARK Luhindura was in bed at home when the shell exploded, ripping through the wooden cabin.
The 28-year-old unemployed university graduate had been contemplating his wedding next month to his fiancée, Sifa Henriete. Now he is hoping and praying he will still make it to the altar.
Luhindura’s home was built against the fence surrounding Goma’s jet-fuel depot, near the town’s airport. In one brutal moment on Wednesday night he became part of the war’s collateral damage when M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo targeted the airport and its fuel supply.
The exploding shell flattened his house. Neighbours found him still on his bed, bleeding but alive. The cabin had been reduced to splinters. His rescuers took him on a motorbike to Heal Africa Hospital.
Luhindura was among 20 people injured in rebels’ shelling of civilian areas of Goma in the past 10 days. Four have died.
A neighbour of Luhindura, Charles Bazimaziki, said he was lucky not to have been a victim. “I was sleeping in this bed and by God’s miracle I was not injured,” he said, pointing to a gaping hole in his corrugated-iron roof. Shards of metal studded the house’s wooden walls.
On the same night, a rebel shell hit a tree and exploded outside a house in the Mabanga Nord suburb of Goma, spraying shrapnel on the surrounding houses, killing one person.
Angry residents spilt into the streets, shouting: “It comes from Rwanda! We will fight Kigali! Tomorrow we will eat Rwanda.”
Kigali is the capital of neighbouring Rwanda.
Others chanted “Mamadou”, referring to Congolese army Colonel Mamadou Ndala Mustafa, who enjoys celebrity status in the area. He was greeted with applause by locals when he inspected the battlefield yesterday.
A Mabanga Nord resident, Kambale Bakulu, berated the UN peacekeepers, saying they were “only tourists who are not doing their job”.
The force of about 20 000 includes a battalion of South African soldiers. It was authorised in March by the UN Security Council to intervene in the DRC against M23 rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda.
Meanwhile, angry youths barricaded the roads in Mabanga Nord with burning tyres and rocks, echoing scenes of violence last weekend after rebels’ shelling of Goma left three dead and 12 wounded.
Residents angry at the UN for failing to protect them took to the streets, threatening to spill into neighbouring Rwanda, which they blame for arming and backing the rebels. In the ensuing violence, two demonstrators were shot dead, allegedly by UN peacekeepers.
The UN said it was investigating the incident.
“This is such a complicated conflict. We aren’t really sure what we are doing fighting here,” said a South African soldier. “It feels like it will never end.”
The M23 rebels are mutineers who believe they received a raw deal when they were integrated into
I was sleeping in this bed and by God’s miracle I was not injured
the Congolese army after a peace deal signed on March 23 2009. The deal has since fallen apart.
UN investigators have found evidence that the rebels are backed militarily and logistically by the Rwandan government, a charge that the country vehemently denies.
With the formation of the UN intervention brigade, South African soldiers in the peacekeeping force have had their term of duty extended to a year. “I’ve been here since March,” said one. “It’s a long time, hey? I miss my wife and kids — but not the cold winters in Bloem.”
Another is struck by the beauty of Goma’s setting on Lake Kivu in the shadow of Mount Nyiragongo, an active volcano. “I’ve been taking pictures of the lake. It’s very beautiful here. Photography is a hobby of mine,” he said.
“I’ve also been trying to take photos of the local people, like those guys with the wooden bikes.” The bicycle, called a chukudu, is entirely made of wood with a long, flat shaft between the wheels. It is used to transport heavy loads.
But the locals are not keen on being photographed. “Whenever I lift my camera, they get quite aggressive. Maybe it’s something to do with the uniform,” said the soldier.