Congo forces flee rebel advance towards Goma

Soldiers began to flee the eastern Congo provincial capital Goma today in retreat from advancing rebels.

They poured into the city along with crowds of refugees and grabbed private cars as well as taxis and motorbikes as they tried to leave by another route.

Rebels have been moving toward Goma for several days. Refugees said the rebels had already overrun Kibati, a village seven miles north that was housing thousands of people.

The EU has sent a top aid envoy to Congo to assess political and humanitarian needs amid increased fighting in the volatile east which has led thousands of people to flee their homes.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged all parties involved in the fighting “to show utmost restraint” to avoid a further deterioration in the region.

Meanwhile the UN peacekeeping force in Congo said it was stretched to the limit as fighting surged and needed urgent reinforcements.

Envoy Alan Doss said ideally the troops would come through the United Nations “tomorrow.” But he acknowledged that was unlikely to happen because an increase would require budget approval and pledges of additional soldiers.

That leaves the possibility of an outside force coming in to help for specific purposes for a limited period, he said.

The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire and implementation of a disengagement plan in eastern Congo.

It “strongly condemned the offensive operations” battling UN peacekeepers and expressed “grave concern” about the resurgence in violence and the dangers it poses to meeting humanitarian needs.

The UN force has come under intense pressure as fighting has escalated in eastern Congo.

The violence has been led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda and fuelled by festering hatreds left over from the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the country’s unrelenting civil wars.

The 17,000-strong UN-force has less than 6,000 troops deployed in North Kivu, where Nkunda is threatening not only to take Goma, but to “liberate” all of Congo.