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A truce in Congo ends in a week. Aid groups say it could be a lost opportunity to help civilians
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A mother Mapendo with her child sits outside her tent at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, July 11, 2024. The top U.N. official in Congo on Monday, July 8, welcomed a two-week humanitarian cease-fire in its mineral-rich east, where she said violence has reached "alarming levels" and risked provoking a wider regional conflict. - photo by AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa
GOMA, Congo (AP) — A two-week truce in eastern Congo has heavily reduced fighting, but with a week left aid workers and local civil society groups say not much help has reached millions of people who are trapped in one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. The two-week humanitarian cease-fire was announced by the U.S. a week ago, bringing a pause to clashes between Congolese forces and rebels allegedly backed by neighboring Rwanda in the mineral-rich region. Fighting has intensified this year, especially in the North Kivu province where hundreds of thousands have been displaced.