Thousands flee as rebels close in on key DR Congo city
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil, and in the early hours of Monday, the 27th of January, these are our main stories. The Democratic Republic of Congo has accused Rwanda of declaring war by sending troops across the border to support a rebel advance on the city of Goma. President Trump says he'll impose emergency tariffs and sanctions on Colombia after it turned back two migrant deportation flights. Lebanon says Israeli troops have killed 22 people as thousands of villagers tried to return to their homes in the south. Also in this podcast, the text sent to a made-up mobile number that resulted in marriage.
First four digits the same as mine and then the last three digits random and then didn't think anything of it. What did you send? Just a message saying hello.
We begin in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the government has accused Rwanda of declaring war by sending its forces to support rebels advancing on the eastern city of Goma, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. Gunfire has been heard in the city centre as the Rwandan-backed rebels close in, despite attempts by the Congolese government forces to fight them off. Large numbers of Rwandan troops are reported to be pouring across the border to help the M23 rebels, who in recent weeks have made significant territorial gains, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, including these residents.
We're especially afraid for our children because if the situation ever gets worse, it will be difficult for them, so we want to spare them. We hear bombs from all sides of our camp for displaced people. That's why I decided to flee, so as not to die there. We're going to Goma, but I heard that there are bombs in Goma too, so now we don't know where to go. If President Tshisekedi is no longer able to lead, he should go and make way for those who can. We can't run away every day. He must find a solution so we can go home.
Western nations and the head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, have called on Rwanda to withdraw its forces from eastern Congo and halt its support for M23 fighters. The calls were made at a special UN Security Council session. Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba-Wagner spoke afterwards.
Rwanda has been permitted by the international community, by its donors, by its partners, to wreak havoc in the DRC, in particular in North Kivu, even in the presence of United Nations peacekeeping troops with one of the most robust mandates of the United Nations.
Our Africa regional editor Will Ross gave us this update.
We've been looking at videos and reports coming out of Goma, and it's quite difficult to get a picture right across what is a large city of one to two million people, but certainly some videos showing people moving with whatever they can carry along roads... A lot of the people are moving from the outskirts, outside Goma, where there are these huge displacement camps, people who have already been pushed out of their homes. And they're having to move again because they fear that they're not safe where they are as the rebels get closer and closer to the city. It's difficult to know... exactly how close they are and in what kind of numbers, but certainly the sounds of war are there. You can hear gunfire and shelling, but it doesn't look as though the moment that there's been an all-out assault over the last day on Goma itself.
Tell us about these rebels, why they will be trying to seize Goma and what Rwandans had to say about this.
So it's a complicated picture, but basically these are a Tutsi dominated rebel group, which has long complained that Tutsi people living in eastern Congo are not treated fairly. And in fact, in some cases, are attacked by Hutu militia. And this is at the root cause of Rwanda's complaint. So earlier, we just heard from the Congolese foreign minister and
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