Both sides reportedly suffer heavy casualties and three UN peacekeepers are wounded near Rwandan border

Goma protest

Congolese troops have come under fire from rebels in the country’s volatile east as fighting resumed just outside Goma, a city of nearly 1 million people near the volatile Congolese-Rwandan border, army officials say.

Heavy weapons fire rang out at around 4.30pm near the frontline just nine miles (11km) outside the city.

Hostilities resumed last week after weeks of relative calm, and on Thursday a new United Nations intervention brigade with a stronger mandate than past missions shelled rebel positions for the first time.

Both sides suffered heavy casualties over the weekend, with more than 50 rebels killed and 23 government soldiers dead, according to a doctor near the frontline and an army chaplain. Three UN peacekeepers were wounded: two South Africans and a Tanzanian, the UN-backed Radio Okapi reported.

Dr Isaac Warwanamiza, treating casualties of the conflict, said he had seen 82 bodies since early Sunday, 23 of whom he claimed were government soldiers, the highest death toll reported since hostilities broke out last week. “I’m overwhelmed by what I’ve seen: bodies blown apart, arms and feet here and there,” he said, speaking to the Associated Press by phone from a hospital north of Goma.

Eight of the dead had no uniforms, 23 were government troops and the rest were March 23 Movement (M23) rebels, the doctor added.

There are 720 wounded Congolese troops at the military hospital, according to the army chaplain Lea Masika.

The head of the United Nations mission in Congo, Martin Kobler, visited two hospitals on Sunday and paid his respects to wounded government and UN soldiers, hailing them as “heroes fighting to restore peace”, Radio Okapi reported.

The Congolese forces have advanced less than a mile since Wednesday and have yet to achieve their immediate objective – cutting off the M23 from a border crossing where the rebel group is believed to get supplies from neighbouring Rwanda, say observers.

The Congolese are fighting with the help of a new UN intervention brigade, which was created after the M23 rebels invaded and briefly held Goma in November.

The M23 has been pounding Goma from its positions just north of the strategic city, killing civilians in Goma’s residential neighbourhoods. By Saturday, scores of angry residents took to the streets in protest, claiming the UN had not done enough to protect them. A UN car was set on fire, and in the melée two protesters were killed.

Some Goma residents claim the UN opened fire on the mob, but the president of Uruguay, José Mujica, said in a statement over the weekend that Uruguayan peacekeepers had only fired rubber bullets to control the crowd. Mujica said it was Congolese police who had used live ammunition.

On Monday, the Congolese government called for an investigation into the deaths of the civilians. The minister of the interior, Richard Muyej, told the Associated Press: “We are absolutely in agreement that a joint commission needs to be created.”

Medical services were struggling to cope with the scale of the casualties among government troops and the M23 fighters. Subsequent peace talks in neighbouring Uganda have repeatedly stalled.

This weekend’s clashes are the first time the Congolese army has been backed by the new UN intervention force, which was created in March.

The M23 is made up of hundreds of Congolese soldiers, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group, who deserted the national army last year after accusing the government of failing to honour the terms of a deal signed in March 2009. Many of the movement’s commanders are veterans of previous rebellions backed by Rwanda, which vigorously denies allegations that it has been supporting and reinforcing the M23.

In Washington, the state department condemned the actions of the M23, calling on the rebel group to immediately cease hostilities, disarm and disband. The US also suggested Rwanda was assisting the rebels.

“We urgently call on [Congolese] and Rwandan governments to exercise restraint to prevent military escalation of the conflict or any action that puts civilians at risk,” the statement said. “We reiterate our call for Rwanda to cease any and all support to the M23.”