UN officials sounded the alarm Monday over surging violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where hospitals and aid facilities have become battlegrounds. Heavy artillery shells struck a maternity hospital and UN Refugee Agency site in Goma – the eastern regional capital – leaving civilians, including newborns and pregnant women, among casualties. 🏥💔
\"Civilians are taking the brunt,\" said Bruno Lemarquis, the UN’s top humanitarian coordinator in the DRC, describing how 700,000 displaced people are being forced to flee again as fighting engulfs North Kivu province. Phone networks are patchy, hospitals overwhelmed, and critical services like water and electricity falter.
UN peacekeepers reported three fatalities and 12 injuries amid what officials call \"a new threshold of violence\" linked to clashes between M23 rebels and the Rwanda Defense Forces. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN peacekeeping chief, warned of \"daunting\" humanitarian challenges and \"risks of a broad war.\" 🌍⚔️
With over 1 million residents scrambling for safety and humanitarian teams reduced to skeleton crews, the crisis shows no signs of easing. As Lemarquis put it: \"They have no choice but to flee.\"
