Congo’s defeated foreign mercenaries head home with ‘big relief’

By Edwin Waita and Hereward Holland

Nearly 300 foreign mercenaries hired by the Democratic Republic of Congo government to counter a swift offensive by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the east have surrendered and were on their way home on Wednesday.

Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, was captured by M23 earlier this week, cornering the mercenaries, remnants of Congo’s army and its allied militias against Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border.

With nowhere else to retreat to, they handed themselves over to United Nations peacekeeping troops in Goma, who then arranged for their transit home through neighbouring Rwanda.

“We are just relieved because we can go finally home … it’s a big relief,” said one, identifying himself as a Romanian who had been in Goma for about two years.

“Goma is devastated because of the war between the Rwandans and the Congolese,” he told Reuters as he crossed the