Only after nightfall on Monday, January 27, could the inhabitants of Gisenyi, the Rwandan city joined to its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) Goma, no longer hear the steady crackling of automatic weapons that had been ongoing since the morning, nor the dull thud of sustained mortar fire. A few far-off detonations, however, remained. Goma's airport is a stone's throw from the city's northern districts. "We've had a lot of damage here," lamented Jean-Paul (who did not wish to give his last name), whom we met near a deserted market, which, just like most of the stores in this part of the Rwandan city, was closed. A spokesman for the Rwandan army said that five civilians had been killed and 25 others seriously wounded, but gave no further details of the circumstances. In Goma, at least 17 people have been killed and 367 wounded in the fighting, according to reports from several hospitals obtained by Agence France-Presse.

In the afternoon, a few more mortar shells fell on Gisenyi, probably fired from Goma's airport. According to a Congolese source contacted by telephone, this was where the clashes had been concentrated at the end of the day. "The Rwandans and M23 control most of the city, but there are pockets of resistance, mainly at the airport, where some wazalendo [local militiamen] and FARDC [Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo] have regrouped because they can't go anywhere else: all directions are blocked," added the source. Cooped up in his home, he admitted he only had a fragmentary view of the situation.

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