AN UNEASY calm has returned to this battered Congolese city as a tenuous ceasefire halted clashes and residents struggled to resume their regular lives.
Many of the thousands of panicked people who fled regional displacement camps a day earlier and stormed into Goma, a city in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, began travelling back to nearby camps on Thursday.
In contrast to Wednesday’s stampede, when people feared rebels were in hot pursuit, the return trip was a sombre procession, with weary people of all ages carrying mattresses, blankets and wood kindling towards an uncertain future.
Rather than food and security in the city, they found only more suffering. Congolese soldiers, who are notoriously ill-trained and underpaid, spent much of the night looting shops, firing weapons, raping women and harassing displaced families.
At least 10 people were shot dead and another seven were wounded, UN officials said.
“We found no help in the city and had to sleep outside on the ground,” said Ntibarikure Nzabandora (22), a father of two who was leading his family back to a displacement camp on the outskirts of Goma. “We might as well go back. At least maybe we will find some food.”
A doctor at a Goma hospital said several of the dozen gunshot victims he treated on Thursday had to wait several hours before getting medical attention because they feared venturing out into the streets, where gunfire rang out until past 2am.
UN peacekeeping soldiers cannot promise to protect civilians in the region, said Kevin Kennedy, a spokesman for the UN operation in Congo, which includes a 17,000-member peacekeeping force.
Kennedy said that the United Nations was redeploying peacekeepers to the area but that the current 850 troops patrolling Goma were no match for the chaos experienced in the region this week, including Congolese soldiers “running amok”.
Soldiers knocked at the door of Jacques Kalisa in the middle of the night. “Soldiers said they just wanted some food and rest, but once inside they changed their story and said they needed money,” the Goma resident said.
When he said the family had no money, Kalisa said soldiers killed his brother and shot two other family members.
By daylight, the city struggled to return to normality after a unilateral ceasefire called by rebels on Wednesday. Some soldiers continued their retreat out of Goma, while others remained. Although most shops remained closed, pedestrians clogged the streets by late afternoon. UN officials said there were no reports of new fighting in the hills surrounding Goma. Forces for Gen Laurent Nkunda, the rebel leader, remained more than 15km outside the city.
“The ceasefire is holding,” UN spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai said.
However, a rebel spokesman called upon the government and UN mission in Congo to formally embrace the ceasefire. Nkunda reiterated his demand for direct negotiations with the government.
“How long we keep the ceasefire is up to the Congolese government,” rebel spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa said.
Aid workers say that they are trying to resume their work, although several agencies, including Oxfam, World Vision and Save the Children, evacuated some international staff.
UN offices were open, but most employees were restricted to their compounds. “Our staff is trying to get back to work, but they can’t get to the camps,” said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN refugee agency.
The World Food Programme made a limited distribution to nutritional centres and hospitals in Goma on Thursday. Trucks loaded with food are waiting at the Rwanda border but cannot be delivered until security is restored, the agency said.
Dunia Zeboi (22), who fled the village of Kibumba when rebels attacked earlier this week, said there have been no aid deliveries since he arrived in the Kibati displacement camp.
He said he was praying for a successful peace negotiation. “We just want there to be peace so we can go home,” he said.
Others were pessimistic. “[The rebels] are opportunists,” said George Palouk (30), a displaced farmer. “They will say what they need to get what they want. This truce will not last.” – (LA Times- Washington Post service)