Former Kenya president calls for urgent intervention in Congo fighting

Members of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), part of the troops to the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF) ride on a pick-up truck on their deployment as part of a regional military operation targeting rebels, in Goma, North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Kenya's former President Uhuru Kenyatta called on Wednesday for urgent intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting between the army and M23 rebels has flared again in the last week causing hundreds to flee their homes.

During a visit to the city of Goma, in eastern Congo, and a nearby camp for displaced people, Kenyatta encountered tens of thousands of people living rough on roadsides.

Described by a United Nations special envoy as increasingly acting as a conventional army, the M23 have staged a major offensive this year, seizing territory and sparking a diplomatic row between Congo and Rwanda.

Members of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), part of the troops to the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF) prepare to depart on their deployment as part of a regional military operation targeting rebels, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Congo accuses Rwanda of backing the M23, an allegation supported by "solid evidence", according to U.N. experts. Kigali firmly denies any involvement.

Kenyatta was visiting Congo as regional bloc East African Community (EAC) facilitator and African Union peace envoy, aiming to cool tensions between the two countries, and end the conflict unfolding along their shared border.

Minutes before Kenyatta's visit to the Kanyaruchinya camp outside Goma, unknown people in Congolese army fatigues shot in the air, causing panic and thousands of people to flee, a Reuters journalist said. The army and rebels blamed each other for the incident.

Members of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), part of the troops to the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF) sit inside their plane as they depart on their deployment as part of a regional military operation targeting rebels, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Kenyatta's work has been "severely hampered by the unfolding dreadful humanitarian crisis in and around Goma", Kenya's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.

Earlier this month Kenya deployed an unknown number of troops to eastern Congo to join an East African regional force tasked with ending decades of bloodshed.

Kenyatta said rebel groups and their backers had not honoured pledges, made at peace talks earlier this year in Nairobi, to remain in their positions.

A labourer pushes a wooden handcart known as Tshikudu loaded with retail supplies in Goma, North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Despite billions of dollars spent on one of the U.N.'s largest peacekeeping forces, more than 100 armed groups continue to operate across large swathes of east Congo.

Jeff Nyagah, the Kenyan commander of the new EAC force, said the diplomatic process was the priority, alongside disarmament and demobilisation of armed groups.

"If those two tracks fail, we will of course use the force during a joint operation with the (Congolese army)," he told a news conference in Goma.

FILE PHOTO: Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta attends the 75th World Health Assembly at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

(Reporting by Djaffar Al Katanty and Paul Lorgerie; Writing by Hereward Holland)