Hot time in Congo

Things have heated up here in Congo. The fighting between the government troops and the CNDP (the major rebel group here) have intensified, and even the UN Monuc troops (who are usually only in an observer role) has gotten involved.

The combat arrived at the doors of Goma, where I am, Wednesday. We wanted to do a partial evacuation then but we were caught a little too late. We closed down the office early and all the expats and relocated staff went together to our first house. With the police gone, and the military having fled, it was a night of looting, vendettas, and general mayhem everywhere. We heard shooting all evening, starting around 6:00pm. Around 9:00pm when a round of machinegun fire was heard VERY close, all 10 of us at the house fled to the “safe room”, one of the bedrooms with no windows exposed to the outside, metal doors which bolt from the inside, a stock of food and a ham radio. Since the room is about 10 ft x 10 ft, let’s say that the night for the 10 of us together was very intimate!

Thursday morning, we did a partial evacuation of 5 of us (yes, I am in the group). We didn’t go far – just across the border into Rwanda – about 7 miles. But the border crossing (exit stamp, entrance visa, payment of an exit visa for the car and customs of a lot of baggage – including a case of sensitive documents we brought with us) took about 1 ½ hours. We are pretty worried about our colleagues still in Goma because apparently there was heavy artillery fire there this afternoon. We’re not sure how long we will be here, but we can still work and communicate with the other sites, some of which are also in evacuation, now that we have found an internet café close to our guest house.
We are not sure how this will end. The CNDP said Wednesday evening that they wouldn’t attack Goma. Then Thursday evening Laurent Nkunda, head of the CNDP announced that no one would keep him from taking Goma. No one knows if they have the capacity to hold onto the positions they have already taken. No one knows either if the Congolese government has the power to retake those position. At any rate, whatever happens, MSF will have a lot of work waiting for us as soon as we can put all our people back into place.