Heavy Casualties in Eastern Congo Fighting

GOMA, DRC — Rebel and government forces in

 eastern Democratic Republic of Congo suffered 

heavy casualties in a fifth day of fighting north of the

 city of Goma.  A doctor near the front line said Sunday

 medical services are overwhelmed by the number of wounded. 

Fighting between the government army and M23 rebels 

raged overnight Saturday through Sunday at Mujoga,

 about 17 kilometers north of Goma.

Doctor Isaac Warwanamiza told VOA by phone he was 

at a field hospital with Tanzanian U.N. troops who are 

waiting to go up to the front line, and all around 

him were dead and wounded.  He said he estimates the

 number of dead that he has seen at the 

hospital since Sunday morning at 82.

This is not the only transit center for casualties from the

 fighting between the army and the M23, so the doctor's 

figure is not a total for the day.

And he could not be sure of the figure. "I can not really count

 them, he says, because sometimes you think you have got

 one person, but then you find four arms, 

or five hands and you realize you are looking at a mixture 

of different people’s body parts," he said.

Warwanamiza said he had treated 54 wounded by

 midday Sunday.  He said he was treating government

 troops and rebels. "Here I am looking at M23 rebels,"

 he said, "and government wounded as well.  If the

 rebels are badly wounded, he adds, we leave them."

The doctor said this had been the worst day since

 the fighting resumed on Wednesday and he was

 overwhelmed by what he has seen.

A chaplain at a military hospital in Goma, Leah Masika, 

confirmed there were heavy casualties Sunday.

It was not immediately possible to contact official army or

 M23 spokesmen to get their reaction to these figures.

The fighting Sunday appears to have been at close 

quarters, as little heavy weapons fire could be heard 

near the front line.  Since Wednesday the army and 

U.N. troops have been battling to dislodge the M23

 from heights overlooking Goma.

Local sources estimate the army has advanced about 

two kilometers since Wednesday, but have yet to achieve

 their immediate objective.

Warwanamiza said the ground they have captured Sunday

 should be measured in meters, not kilometers, but the

 government troops have advanced.

M23 controls a narrow strip of territory along the Rwanda

 and Ugandan borders about 100 kilometers north to south

 and may have only about 2,000 fighters. 

 The United Nations has accused Rwanda of reinforcing the rebels.  Rwanda denies the accusation

.