M23 fighters abduct 130 patients in east DR Congo: UN

M23 fighters have abducted at least 130 people from hospitals in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's city of Goma captured by the Rwandan-backed group, the United Nations said on Monday.

According to the UN, last week the M23 took 116 people from Goma's CBCA Ndosho hospital and 15 others from the Heal Africa hospital, on claims they were members of the DRC's army or pro-government militias.

"We are gravely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of at least 130 sick and wounded men the M23 rebels abducted last week from two hospitals in Goma," the UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

"It is deeply distressing that M23 is snatching patients from hospital beds in coordinated raids and holding them incommunicado in undisclosed locations."

A CBCA hospital employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AFP the abductions which she said took place in the night from Sunday to Monday.

"Around 3:00 am, we had a visit from the M23 who took all the soldiers who were here and their caregivers," the employee said.

Five civilians were among those seized, who were later released, the source added.

Since taking up arms again in 2021 the M23 has seized swathes of the mineral-rich eastern DRC, including the North Kivu provincial capital Goma at the end of January.

The armed group has since primed itself to govern in parts of the eastern DRC, which has been plagued by conflict for more than three decades.

Rwanda denies offering military support for the M23.

But a UN experts' report found Kigali maintains at least 4,000 troops in the eastern DRC and has de facto control of the armed group.

The report said Rwanda was using the M23 to profit from the eastern DRC's natural resources, including its rich veins of gold and coltan.