STORY: Civilians in DR Congo's Sake suffer from rebel M23 offensive
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 13, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 14, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:29
LOCATION: Kinshasa
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of people fleeing Sake towards Goma, eastern DR Congo
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Swahili): EUSTACHE GASORE, Displaced person
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): SON AMANI, Displaced person
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Swahili): GUILAIN IRUNVA, Displaced person

STORYLINE:

For several weeks, residents of Sake, a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have been living under the intensive exchange of heavy weapons fire as fighting flared up between government troops and March 23 Movement (M23) rebels, Xinhua correspondents observed on the ground.
   
Located about 20 km from Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, much of which is occupied by the M23, Sake City is considered to be the last barrier for Goma, which was taken by M23 rebels in late 2012.
   
The DRC army and military partners such as the Southern African Development Community Force have deployed heavy artillery pieces to stop the advance of the M23, which now controls several places on the mountains overlooking Sake.

As residents who had fled the recent fighting started to gradually return to their homes in Sake, many still shudder at the thought of bombs falling in the city.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Swahili): EUSTACHE GASORE, Displaced person
"The day before yesterday, we saw the M23 soldiers coming down from the hills while we were still in Malehe. This is how we fled towards Sake. Shortly after, this morning, we saw the M23 dropping bombs on civilians in Sake. That's why you find us here along the road. We have nowhere to go, and no house to spend the night in. Currently, everything is fine here. But in Sake, we just learned that civilians, who are our neighbors, have been arrested by the M23. Until now, I have no idea of their fate, whether they are still alive or not."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): SON AMANI, Displaced person"I come from Shasha, and I was taking refuge in Sake. Now I'm leaving Sake to go to Goma. In Sake, there were crackling bullets and explosions of bombs. That's why we were afraid and decided to flee. We are fleeing without knowing where we are going. I have just fled with eight children. I ask the government to do everything in its power to restore peace, because we are suffering."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Swahili): GUILAIN IRUNVA, Displaced person
"We live in difficult conditions. We have just abandoned our fields, and we have nothing to eat or a place to sleep. Until now, we have nothing, not even a tarpaulin to cover us. No humanitarian aid has arrived, which is why we are asking the government to intervene so that we can return to our fields."

As a result of ongoing conflicts, Sake now hosts more than 80,000 people displaced from different villages in Masisi territory, much of which were also taken by M23 rebels.
   
The recent attacks on Sake have forced many of those displaced people to flee again to sites around Goma.
   
The United Nations and several other multinational organizations have spoken of a serious humanitarian crisis in North Kivu and called on the warring parties to stop hostilities immediately and try to find a peaceful solution.
   
The Kinshasa government, though, said it would not have any form of negotiation with the M23.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kinshasa.
(XHTV)