WordBulletin

World Bulletin / News Desk 

A grenade explosion in the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed one person and injured more than 20, the latest of a string of deadly attacks in the area, officials said on Tuesday.

Goma is the provincial capital of North Kivu province and is under threat from a rebellion that has so far kept mainly to the surrounding hills and smaller towns.

"Unidentified individuals threw a grenade in the crowded Mapendo district, causing 22 injuries, one of whom died during the night," Colonel Edouard Simon Makiadi told Reuters by telephone.

A second grenade was also thrown but did not explode, according to Makiadi.

Some 18 people have been killed in shootings and grenade attacks in Goma in recent weeks, sparking fears that "M23" rebels who hold positions around 30 km (20 miles) from the city have launched a campaign of intimidation.

Residents of Goma say that gunfire breaks out regularly across the city at night.

However, Makiadi said Congo's notoriously ill-disciplined government troops may have been behind much of the unrest. Tens of thousands of the soldiers have flooded into the town since the rebellion started eight months ago.