DRC’s amputees bear scars of conflict

THEY survived the bombs and bullets, but many lost an arm or a leg when M23 fighters seized the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo nearly a year ago.

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Lying on a rug, David Muhire arduously lifted his thigh as a carer in a white uniform placed weights on it to increase the effort and work the muscles.

The 25-year-old’s leg was amputated at the knee — he's one of the many whose bodies bear the scars of the Rwanda-backed M23’s violent offensive.

Muhire was grazing his cows in the village of Bwiza in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province, when an explosive device went off.

He lost his right arm and right leg in the blast, which killed another farmer who was with him.

Fighting had flared at the time in a dramatic escalation of a decade-long conflict in the mineral-rich region that had seen the M23 seize swathes of land.