ICRC escorts Congo troops from UN base in rebel-held Goma to Kinshasa

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(Reuters) -Hundreds of Congolese soldiers and police officers seeking refuge at the United Nations’ base in Goma since the eastern city’s capture in January are being transferred to Kinshasa, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

ICRC will escort the now-unarmed soldiers and police officers as well as their families from the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission’s site to Congo’s capital over the course of several days, it said.

According to MONUSCO, some 1,400 people – mostly soldiers – have taken refuge in its Goma base since late January.

“In view of the complexity of the operation and the risks associated with it, the ICRC calls for respect for international humanitarian law and a sense of responsibility on the part of all actors,” it said.

In an escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle over Congo’s vast mineral resources, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city, in late January and Bukavu, the area’s second-largest city, weeks later.

The unprecedented advance has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee. Rwanda denies U.N. allegations that it backs the M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo’s army and allied militias.

While M23 withdrew from the strategic mining town of Walikale earlier this month, sporadic clashes between the rebels and Congolese soldiers and allied Wazalendo militia fighters have been reported in recent days in the area and in North and South Kivu provinces.

Congo and Rwanda vowed this week to come up with a draft peace deal by May 2, following a ceasefire call. However, previous ceasefire calls have not produced a sustained break in the fighting.

The ICRC said it had been approached by Congolese authorities, the U.N. and the AFC/M23 rebel alliance to act as a neutral intermediary.

“We thank the ICRC for its crucial role in facilitating the implementation of this complex operation,” senior U.N. aid official Bruno Lemarquis said in a statement.

Congo’s army welcomed the start of the evacuation.

(Reporting by Sonia Rolley in Paris; Writing by Portia Crowe and Sofia Christensen; Editing by Aidan Lewis)