Emile Bolingo is not sure how long he and other residents of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, can hold out.
This major city in the region, with about two million people, has been cut off from the farms that feed it for several days.
It is the latest episode in a resurgence of fighting that has seen tens of thousands added to the nearly seven million who have been forced from their homes in the country because of multiple conflicts.
Rebels from the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 movement are blocking the two main roads into Goma from the north and the west and preventing produce from getting through.
“We are scared of going hungry if the [Congolese army] do not liberate any of the main roads very soon. You can feel the panic here… people are very scared,” Mr Bolingo told the BBC.
Goma’s population has swelled in recent days with people running from the advancing fighters.
Sake, a town 25km (15 miles) north-west of Goma, came under attack on Wednesday.
“I sustained a pelvic injury caused by shrapnel,” Mundeke Kandundao told the BBC from his hospital bed in Goma where he has undergone surgery.
The 25-year-old motorbike taxi driver said a shell was launched by the rebels from a hill overlooking the town on Wednesday.
“I was standing behind a cabin and there were a lot of other people there and that’s where it exploded,” he said.
“We are scared because you know the war goes on and on, it is meaningless. We are waiting to see if it ends so that we can go back to our homes.”
Laurent Cresci, from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told the BBC from the state-run Bethsaida Hospital in Goma that patient numbers had surged on Wednesday: “It was really a mass casualty. We were before 80 patients in our ward, and now we have 130 patients so it’s really hard to manage.”
For many people it is a tragic case of déjà vu.
“For how long shall we live like this? Every now and then we keep fleeing,” Pascal Bashali told the BBC after he had arrived in Goma. People are streaming in by foot, on motorbikes and mini buses.
Aline Ombeni said she was distraught on her arrival in the city: “We have fled empty-handed just as you are seeing us – no food, no clothes we need help with shelter and food.”
As the conflict edges closer, it brings back memories of 2012 when the rebels occupied the lakeside city for 10 days before abandoning it following international pressure.
The M23, formed as an offshoot of another rebel group, began operating in 2012 ostensibly to protect the Tutsi population in the east of DR Congo which had long complained of persecution and discrimination. UN experts have said that the group is backed by neighbouring Rwanda, which is also led by Tutsis, something that Kigali has consistently denied.
“We all know that the reason of this war is economic. Rwanda is continuing… for the past 25 years… looting our mineral resources,” Congolese Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya told the BBC, urging the UK to use its influence with Rwanda to ease the situation.
There are now fears that the M23 – by far the most organised, disciplined and well-equipped of the many militia groups in the region – could capture Goma once again.
Recently re-elected Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi last year said that “Congolese need to learn to trust us, Goma will never fall”. He repeated the promise, in the city itself, during the election campaign in December.
Within reach of major mining towns supplying metals and minerals in high demand such as gold, tin and coltan, Goma has become a vital economic hub. Its road and air transport links, and the fact that it has a huge UN peacekeeping base, has attracted a host of businesses, international organisations and diplomatic consulates.
As such, Goma is a valuable strategic target, but the M23 says it does not want to capture it and maintains it is on the defensive not offensive. (BBC)
