Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has strongly condemned a violent attack on a hospital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which the humanitarian group has attributed to the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel movement.
In a statement released on Friday, MSF said that approximately 20 armed men affiliated with the M23 entered the grounds of Kyeshero Hospital in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, during the night of 4 to 5 April, reportedly searching for civilians who had sought shelter inside the facility.
Goma was seized by M23 forces at the start of this year, as part of a rapid territorial advance across North and South Kivu provinces.
“During this operation, the MSF teams… witnessed these armed men firing weapons outside the hospital wards,” the organisation said.
“One person was killed and three others sustained injuries. Two members of the hospital’s staff were brutally beaten. Although the gunmen did not enter the wards themselves, bullets did reach some of the hospital rooms,” the statement added.
Margot Grelet, MSF’s emergency coordinator for Goma and North Kivu, called the events “unacceptable” and demanded that such incidents must never happen again.
The international charity also noted that this was not an isolated occurrence. Since the beginning of the year, MSF teams have reported around 15 violent incidents in which local healthcare facilities have been directly affected by conflict.
The M23, a rebel group with long-standing grievances against the Congolese government, has expanded its control over much of the country’s mineral-rich eastern region since 2021. Earlier this year, the group seized the major cities of Goma and Bukavu in a swift and coordinated offensive.
The DRC holds vast reserves of valuable minerals such as lithium, cobalt, tantalum, tin, gold, copper, and uranium — resources critical to the global electronics and electric vehicle industries. However, these riches have long fuelled violent conflict and funded insurgencies, contributing to decades of instability in the region.
