Rwanda condemns US over Goma IDP camp bomb attack

Rwanda's government has rebuffed Washington's claims, alleging its involvement in the bombing of internally displaced people (IDP) camps around Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Washington issued the statement through U.S. Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller on May 4, 2024. 

Miller strongly condemned the attack that occurred on May 3 this year and claimed nine lives, accusing the Rwanda Defence Forces and M23 rebels of hitting the Mugunga camp for internally displaced persons. 

In a rebuttal, Rwanda argued, saying, "The attempt by the US Department of State to immediately and without any investigation place blame on Rwanda for the loss of lives in the IDP camps, is unjustified. Rwanda will not shoulder responsibility for the bombing of the IDP camps around Goma, or the security and governance failures of the government of the DRC.”

Kigali clarified that organisations in Goma, including Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), a humanitarian medical charity, had warned that Congo’s military, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), was placing heavy artillery within IDP camps. 

Subsequently, this was followed by the deadly shelling witnessed by hundreds of people, including those affected, as well as the targeted, point-blank shooting of protesters in the IDP camps by the FARDC and Burundian armed forces deployed in the DRC.

Kigali added that the "scapegoating of Rwanda by the U.S. government for the shortcomings and wrongdoing of the DRC has become a pattern and is predictable." 

It further argued that this supports the confrontational stance of the DRC government, which includes the FARDC's alliance with the FDLR rebels, Wazalendo, European mercenaries, SADC forces, and Burundian armed forces.

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a Hutu group founded by Hutu officials who fled Rwanda after orchestrating the 1994 Genocide, while Wazalendo is a Christian sect. 

"The position taken by the US government raises serious questions about its credibility as a facilitator in the region and undermines its ability to play a constructive role towards a peaceful solution," the statement said.

The statement added, "The international community, while claiming to support regional processes towards a political solution and durable peace, has been indifferent to the dramatic military build-up in eastern DRC, armed conflict, and the resulting deplorable humanitarian situation of millions of Congolese citizens."

The bomb attack

A two-year offensive by M23 rebels has moved closer to Goma in recent months, prompting thousands from surrounding areas to seek refuge in the city. 

The Congo branch of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had to stop a distribution round and halt medical consultations on Friday morning because of rising insecurity and the bomb attack. 

MSF Congo "condemns the increasingly regular use of heavy artillery in the immediate proximity of displacement camps around Goma," it posted on X.

The United Nations' peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, also condemned the bombing in a statement and called on Congolese authorities to prosecute perpetrators.

In February of this year, a strike blasted a crater in the same Lac Vert neighbourhood.

Nobody was hurt in that attack, but it highlighted the seriousness of the threat to Goma, a strategic urban hub in the conflict-ridden eastern DRC.