THE Rwanda-backed M23 militia abducted at least 130 sick and wounded men from two hospitals in a major city in eastern Congo, the United Nations said on Monday.

On February 28, the M23 militia raided the CBCA Ndosho Hospital and Heal Africa Hospital in Goma, a strategic city they seized earlier this year, the UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, said in a statement.

The rebels took 116 patients from CBCA and 15 others from Heal Africa they suspected of being Congolese army soldiers or members of the pro-government Wazalendo militia.

“It is deeply distressing that M23 is snatching patients from hospital beds in co-ordinated raids and holding them incommunicado in undisclosed locations,” Ms Shamdasani said, calling for their immediate release.

M23 militia have swept through eastern Congo since the beginning of the year, seizing key cities and killing some 3,000 people in the most significant escalation of conflict in over a decade.

In a lightning three-week offensive, the M23 took control of eastern Congo’s main city Goma and seized the second largest city, Bukavu. 

The region is rich in gold and coltan, a key mineral for the production of capacitors used in most consumer electronics, such as laptops and smartphones.

The M23 militia are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts.