{"id":2000105230,"date":"2026-03-12T18:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T16:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000105230"},"modified":"2026-03-12T18:20:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T16:20:23","slug":"goma-residents-protesturging-afc-m23-to-liberate-the-entire-drc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/goma-residents-protesturging-afc-m23-to-liberate-the-entire-drc\/","title":{"rendered":"Goma residents protest,urging AFC\/M23 to liberate the entire DRC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the early hours of March 11, drones from the DRC military targeted civilian homes in the Himbi area, resulting in the deaths of three civilians, including Karine Buisset, a French national working for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AFC\/M23 condemned the attack, criticizing the international community for remaining silent while the DRC government violated the peace agreements signed in Doha, Qatar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to an invitation from civil society organizations, the residents of Goma paused their daily activities on March 12 and took to the streets in protest against the violence perpetrated by the DRC government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the protesters expressed their condolences to the families of the civilians killed in the drone strike and condemned the continued use of drones by the DRC military, which continues to target civilian-populated areas in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protesters expressed their belief that the ongoing drone attacks, which show complete disregard for civilian lives, serve as a sign that President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi is willing to do whatever it takes to retain power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the AFC\/M23, revealed that the protesters have demanded that AFC\/M23 take control of the entire DRC, as the areas under government control have become centers of violence, insecurity, and the suffering of civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goma has been under the control of AFC\/M23 since January 2025. This is the first time the city has been attacked by drones since it was taken from the DRC government\u2019s control more than a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A house was severely damaged by drones from the DRC government forces.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Senior officials arrived at the building and listened to testimonies from the residents.<\/strong>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
On the morning of March 12, the residents of Goma staged a protest condemning the attack.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A large number of Goma residents staged a protest against a drone strike by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s army on the morning of March 12, 2026, calling on AFC\/M23 rebel coalition to free the entire country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000105231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[99],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000105230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000105231,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/screenshot_278_-d1b0d.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":562,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/screenshot_278_-d1b0d.jpg","width":150,"height":84},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/screenshot_278_-d1b0d.jpg","width":300,"height":169},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/screenshot_278_-d1b0d.jpg","width":768,"height":432},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/screenshot_278_-d1b0d.jpg","width":1000,"height":562},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/screenshot_278_-d1b0d.jpg","width":1000,"height":562}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000105230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000105230"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000105230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000105274,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000105230\/revisions\/2000105274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000105231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000105230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000105230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000105230"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000105230"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000105230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}