RUTH ALONGA

A municipal worker cleans a traffic circle in downtown Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, one month after the city was captured by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
It’s been a month since rebels seized an eastern Congo city. Goma residents say they are struggling
Rwanda-backed rebels captured a key eastern Congo city a month ago Friday. Residents in Goma say they are struggling on various fronts even as the rebels try to consolidate their administration and restart normal life.
February 28
Louise Sabina, 39, poses for a photo Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025 in a Goma, eastern Congo school where she and her 10 children found shelter after her soldier husband was sent to Rumangabo for mixing and integration into the M23 rebel forces. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
As Rwanda-backed rebels seized Goma, the families of Congolese soldiers became a target
Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo’s major city of Goma have targeted relatives of fleeing Congolese soldiers. That’s according to the soldier’s families.
February 23
Members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo and the Church of Christ arrive for a meeting with the leader of the political military coalition in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Congolese church leaders meet Rwanda-backed rebels in the east in latest push for peace
Congo’s largest church organizations have met with Rwanda-backed rebels in the country’s east to advocate for peace and dialogue after weekslong fighting.
February 13
Red Cross personnel load bodies of victims of the fighting between Congolese government forces and M23 rebels in a truck in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, as the U.N. health agency said 900 died in the fight. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Rwanda-backed rebels tell residents of a captured eastern Congolese city they are safe
The Rwanda-backed rebels who captured a major city in eastern Congo have sought to reassure its residents about their safety.
February 7
Employees work in Moldiag, a biotechnology startup, while producing mpox tests, in Tamesna, Morocco, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Morocco produces Africa’s first mpox tests as the continent tries to rely less on imports
After African countries struggled to get testing kits during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials vowed to make the continent less dependent on imported medical supplies.
December 9, 2024
FILE - 2 year old Emile Miango, who has mpox, lies in a hospital, in Kamituga, South Kivu province, Sept. 4, 2024, which is the epicenter of the world's latest outbreak of the disease in eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, file)
Mpox cases in Congo may be stabilizing. Experts say more vaccines are needed to stamp out virus
Some health officials say mpox cases in Congo appear to be “stabilizing.” It’s a possible sign that the epidemic for which the World Health Organization made a global emergency declaration in August might be on the decline.
November 3, 2024
Daniella Mulekets, 20, practices Oct. 23, 2024 in the streets of Goma, Democratic republic of the Congo, prior to her first professional fight Oct. 26 on the 50th anniversary of the "Rumble in the Jungle" fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Boxing dreams live on in Congo’s grassroots clubs 50 years after the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’
A punch crunches into the side of Daniella Muleketsi’s face. She grimaces at the sting of it and the crowd holds its breath in fear for their homegrown boxing hope.
October 30, 2024
United Nations blue helmets from India under the MONUSCO umbrella take part in a night patrol in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Congo wants UN peacekeepers gone. But endless war around minerals is complicating that
The end of one of the world’s deadliest and yet most shadowy wars is as difficult to predict as the end of the large peacekeeping force meant to contain it. Congo desperately wants stability in its mineral-rich east.
October 29, 2024
Nelly Shukuru, 51, hold the scarf she had planned on using to hang herself after spending three years displaced in the Lushagala camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Years of war in Congo have created a dire mental health crisis. But little support is available
Years of conflict in eastern Congo have created a dire mental health crisis. Aid groups say the number of people seeking care has spiked as fighting intensifies.
October 16, 2024
A ferry leaves Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, for Bukavu on lake Kivu. (AP Photo/Justin Kabumba)
With roads often blocked by rebels in Congo, boats — the only alternative — have become death traps
The overcrowded boat that capsized in eastern Congo last week killed eight members of Serge Nzonga’s family along with 70 others.
October 10, 2024
FILE - A health worker attends to a mpox patient, at a treatment centre in Munigi, eastern Congo, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)
Congo finally begins mpox vaccinations in a drive to slow outbreaks
Congolese authorities have started vaccinations against mpox, nearly two months after the disease outbreak that spread from Congo to several other African countries and beyond was declared a global emergency.
October 5, 2024
Women grieve at the port of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, after a ferry carrying hundreds capsized on arrival Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
At least 78 people died when a boat with 278 on board capsized in eastern Congo, official says
A Congolese governor says at least 78 people have died when an overcrowded boat with 278 passengers capsized on Lake Kivu in eastern Congo.
October 3, 2024
Atumisi Anaclet treats a sex worker with mpox on Sept. 4, 2024, in a hospital in Kamituga, in eastern Congo's South Kivu province, which is the epicenter of the world's latest outbreak of the disease. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Why is Congo struggling to contain mpox?
Health authorities have struggled to contain outbreaks of mpox in Congo, a huge central African country where a myriad of existing problems makes stemming the spread particularly hard.
September 19, 2024
Sarah Bagheni, in the Bulengo refugee camp in Goma, Congo, suspects she may be infected with Mpox after the World Health Organization had declared Thursday, Aug, 15, 2024, the increasing spread of mpox in Africa a global health emergency, warning the virus might ultimately spill across international borders. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Congo’s humanitarian crisis helped mpox spiral again into a global health emergency
A humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo is contributing to mpox outbreaks there and elsewhere in Africa that have been deemed a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.
August 17, 2024
13 year-old Arusi Wegeneza plays a chess game at 'The Soga Chess Club' of the internally displaced persons camp in Kanyaruchinya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
A chess club for kids thrives in a Congo refugee camp. It’s about more than the game
In the midst of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, a chess club for kids is thriving in a refugee camp in eastern Congo. The Soga Chess Club doesn’t have enough tables and chairs.
August 10, 2024
A mother Mapendo with her child sits outside her tent at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, July 11, 2024. The top U.N. official in Congo on Monday, July 8, welcomed a two-week humanitarian cease-fire in its mineral-rich east, where she said violence has reached "alarming levels" and risked provoking a wider regional conflict. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
A truce in Congo ends in a week. Aid groups say it could be a lost opportunity to help civilians
A two-week truce in eastern Congo has heavily reduced fighting, but with a week left aid workers and local civil society groups say not much help has reached millions of people who are trapped in one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
July 12, 2024
A militia attack on a Congo gold mine kills 6 Chinese miners and 2 Congolese soldiers
A militia attack on a gold mine in northeastern Congo has killed six Chinese miners and two Congolese soldiers, the latest attack as violence worsens in the resource-rich region.
July 4, 2024
2 aid workers killed in the latest violent attack in eastern Congo’s conflict
Two aid workers have been killed in eastern Congo when their convoy was attacked. Aid group Tearfund announced the attack in a statement late Monday.
July 2, 2024
Anne Marie Nikuze, 60, a displaced person living in the Muganga camp with her children and grandchildren near Goma, Democratic republic of the Congo, gathers belongings on Thursday, June 6, 2024. A fire at a displacement camp in eastern Congo has destroyed around 50 makeshift tents, leaving dozens of families without shelter. On Wednesday afternoon, the tents were reduced to ashes at the Mugunga displaced people camp near the provincial capital Goma. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Fire at a displacement camp in Congo leaves dozens of families without shelter, UN says
June 6, 2024
People gather at the side of an explosion in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, May, 3, 2024. The Congolese army says a bomb at a refugee camp in eastern Congo has killed at least 5 people, including children. An army spokesman blamed the attack at the Mugunga refugee camp in North Kivu on a rebel group, known as M23, with alleged links to Rwanda, in a statement provided to The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Death toll in bombings at displacement camps in eastern Congo rises to at least 35
An official in Congo says the death toll in the bombings of two camps for displaced people in the country’s east last week has risen to at least 35. Member of Parliament Éric Bwanapuwa provided the updated figure Friday.
May 10, 2024
People gather in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Monday, May 6, 2024, to mourn the victims of the Mugunga Camp attack three days earlier. The signs read: 'Yes to peace, No to war' and 'Attacking civilians is a war crime.' (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Families of the victims of attacks on displaced people in Congo mourn their dead
Families of the victims of last week’s bombings at two camps of displaced people in eastern Congo, which killed at least sixteen people, have mourned their loved ones at a ceremony in the city of Goma.
May 8, 2024
A military court sentences 8 Congolese army soldiers to death for cowardice, other crimes
A military court in eastern Congo has sentenced eight soldiers to death for cowardice and other crimes linked to fleeing the battlefield, as the government struggles to contain violence and attacks in the mineral-rich area where many armed groups operate.
May 3, 2024
FILE - People displaced by the ongoing fighting between Congolese forces and M23 rebels gather in a camp on the outskirts of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. The U.N. human rights chief says the world is forgetting the escalating violence in eastern Congo as conflicts continue in places like Ukraine and Gaza. He visited the region and called for peace and support for millions repeatedly displaced. Eastern Congo has long been overrun by more than 120 armed groups seeking to control the region’s rich resources as they carry out mass killings. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)
The U.N. rights chief says eastern Congo’s escalating violence is being forgotten by the world
The U.N. human rights chief says the world is forgetting the escalating violence in eastern Congo as conflicts continue in places like Ukraine and Gaza. He visited the region and called for peace and support for millions repeatedly displaced.
April 17, 2024
People displaced by the ongoing fighting between Congolese forces and M23 rebels gather in a camp on the outskirts of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wednesday, March 13, 2024, as OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) head and representative Ramesh Rajasingham, carries out a working visit to the region. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Congo faces unprecedented crisis as violence displaces 250,000 in the last month, a UN official says
A senior United Nations official says intensifying violence in Congo’s eastern region has pushed a humanitarian crisis in the region to “unprecedented” levels.
March 13, 2024
At least 10 people killed as rebels seize a town in Congo’s conflict-hit eastern region
People in eastern Congo say a rebel group with alleged links to neighboring Rwanda has seized a town in the conflict-hit region following attacks that caused at least 10 deaths and displaced thousands.
March 7, 2024
United Nations peacekeepers from Pakistan pack their base in Kamanyola, Democratic Republic of the Congo Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, as it is being handed over to local security forces as part of an eventual UN withdrawal after decades of operating in the country. The handover comes as violence soars in the conflict-riddled region. (AP Photo/Ruth Alonga)
UN hands over 1st military base in Congo to begin its drawdown after decades in the country
KAMANYOLA, Congo (AP) — United Nations peacekeepers handed over their first military base to security forces in eastern Congo on Wednesday as part of an eventual withdrawal after decades of operating in the country.
February 28, 2024
A woman who was wounded in ongoing fighting between M-23 rebel forces and Congolese forces in the Sake region West of Goma, eastern Congo, lies on her hospital bed in Goma, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. In recent days, main roads around Goma and Sake, routes that are crucial for the movement of civilians, goods, and humanitarian aid, have become impassable due to intensified fighting, further restricting access to essential services and supplies said humanitarian aid organisation, Mercy Corps. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
3 dead in bombing attack on Congo displacement camp as violence in the east escalates
A group of rebels bombed a displacement camp in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province killing three civilians and injuring eight others, a local civil society group says.
February 13, 2024
Thousands who are fleeing the ongoing conflict between government forces and M-23 rebels reach the entrance the Democratic Republic of Congo eastern city of Goma Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Residents scatter as they fear Congo rebel group will again seize key eastern city of Goma
Residents say one of eastern Congo’s most active rebel groups is attacking a community considered the last line of defense before the region’s largest city of Goma.
February 7, 2024
Voters look for their names outside a polling station in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Congo headed to the polls Wednesday to vote for president as authorities scrambled to finalise preparations in an election facing steep logistical and security challenges. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Congo’s presidential vote is extended as delays and smudged ballots lead to fears about credibility
Lengthy delays at the polls have forced officials to extend voting in Congo’s presidential election to Thursday.
December 20, 2023