GOMA, Congo (AP) — The governor of eastern Congo’s North Kivu province has died from injuries sustained during fighting on the front line, authorities said Friday, as M23 rebels closed in on the provincial capital.
M23 made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.
The circumstances around the death of Maj. Gen Peter Cirimwami were unclear but Cirimwami, who led army operations in the restive North Kivu, visited troops on the front line in Kasengezi, around 13 kilometers (8 miles) from Goma, on the day of his death.
His death Thursday was confirmed by a government source, a military source and a U.N. source Friday, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter publicly. The governor died at a hospital after sustaining injuries on the front line, they said.
On Thursday, panic spread in Goma as rebels took control of Sake, a town only 27 kilometers (16 miles) from the provincial capital and one of the last main routes into the city still under government control, according to the U.N. chief.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda, in a decadeslong conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
More than 7 million people have been displaced by the fighting. Earlier this month, M23 captured the towns of Minova, Katale and Masisi, west of Goma.
M23 seized Goma in 2012 and controlled it for over a week.
Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which is mainly composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army over a decade ago.
Rwanda’s government denies the claim but last year admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
The city of Goma was gripped by palpable tension as clashes between Congo’s armed forces and M23 raged on in the city’s periphery on Friday.
The fighting is concentrated in Kibumba, around 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Goma, and around Sake, to the west.
More than 178,000 people have fled M23 advance in the last two weeks.
Alliance Gentil, 25, was among dozens of displaced people on the road from Sake to Goma on Friday. Sitting on her water container next to her belongings, a baby on her back, she said she is tired of constantly fleeing.
“I am fleeing, but I don’t know where I am going,” the mother of two children said, adding that she already fled twice in the last month.
The front line near Goma is just a few dozen meters (yards) from the Lushagala and Bulengo displaced people camps, fueling fear among those who sought safety near the provincial capital.
Tens of thousands more arrived in recent weeks in the camps in Goma and its periphery, which were already home to nearly 600,000 displaced people, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
The explosions of heavy weapons resonated throughout Goma on Friday. Many shops and stores remained closed and police were deployed on the city’s main streets.
Military checkpoints were set up throughout the city, checking all vehicles.
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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Christina Malkia in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.
Justin Kabumba And Mark Banchereau, The Associated Press