On the front line of Congo’s conflict, a trauma center tells a story of horror and survival

GOMA, Congo (AP) — In a sunlit rehabilitation room, Jerome Jean Claude Amani offers a faint smile. For the first time since losing his wife and children to a rebel attack in eastern Congo, the 35-year-old is standing again — one leg his own, the other made of plastic.

“I feel at peace,” said Amani, who lives on the outskirts of the North Kivu provincial capital of Goma. “I don’t see this leg as plastic, but as a second chance.”

Amani's wife and four children were killed when they came under attack by armed groups in April. Badly wounded and seeking help to start over, he found his way to Shirika la Umoja, an orthopedic center on the front line of eastern Congo's conflict in Goma, which finds itself overwhelmed by surging numbers of casualties.

Congo's mineral-rich east has long been battered by fighting involving more than 100 armed groups including the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The rebels made an unprecedented advance in January and seized two key cities including Goma, further deepening one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

Some 7 million people had been displaced in the conflict that was already one of the world's largest humanitarian crises before it escalated this year. While fighting has largely decreased as a result of peace efforts, there are still pockets of clashes and civilians are still being killed.

Shirika la Umoja has long been producing prosthetics for the wounded in Goma, with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross since 2005. But the escalation in fighting has brought increased demand for artificial limbs for amputees.

“Every week, we receive new patients who lost limbs to stray bullets, landmines, or explosion,” said Gisèle Kantu, a physical therapist at the center.

Since early 2025, the center has treated more than 800 amputees and other severely injured patients.

The number of prosthetic limbs provided by the clinic has soared from 422 in all of 2024 to 326 in just the first half of 2025. There's no sign of demand easing anytime soon.

The center currently runs with nearly three dozen professionals. Unlike in most other places, the prosthetics are made by hand, each one individually carved, molded and assembled.

For each patient, there is a story of both horror and survival.

Melisa Amuli, 30, survived a bombardment near a checkpoint in the town of Mubambiro in North Kivu province in January.

“I was lying among the dead. I started saying my final prayer,” she recalled, wiping away tears. Hours later, some motorbike riders pulled her from the rubble. Gravely injured, Hamuli was spared amputations but her legs no longer functioned correctly.

Today, with the help of a special orthotic brace supplied by the center, she can stand again. Forced to close her business selling potatoes, she now relies on others for support. But she's looking forward to returning to work as her recovery continues, one physical therapy session at a time.

For the wounded, the consequences of armed conflict endure long beyond the fighting.

Violetta Nyirarukundo, 27, saw her life crumble in April when armed men shot her during an attack. The mother of four was adjusting to her new reality when her husband abandoned her and their children.

“When my husband learned I had lost a leg, he left me,” said Nyirarukundo. “He didn’t want to live with a woman who was ‘incomplete.’”

Violetta tries to remain strong. “I’ve lost everything, but I’m still alive," she said, adding that she plans to move in with her father to raise her children.

Faustin Amani, 20, sits silently on a wooden bench at the clinic, his gaze fixed on the courtyard. His right leg, amputated above the knee, is neatly bandaged. Yet the pain seems to extend beyond the physical wound.

Last March a speeding military vehicle struck him and his friend when he was selling mobile phone airtime not far from home. It cost him both legs, and killed the friend instantly.

Though grateful to have survived, he speaks of feeling trapped in a body he barely recognizes.

“I wonder if I’ll ever have a normal life … Who will want me? Who will pay for my schooling? My father pushes carts, my mother carries heavy loads at the market. All my friends have two legs,” he said.

In the center’s hallways, Amani crosses paths with other young amputees — victims of mines, bullets, and bombs. He wasn’t a fighter, just a street vendor who dreamed of buying a motorcycle some day to grow his business.

“If I could, I’d avenge my leg,” he said, eyes welling with tears.

As the injured heal, a workshop offers locals the chance to help build the prosthetics with materials made available by the Red Cross. They've gone from crafting just a few to about 10 in a day, pressing ahead to meet the surging need.

“We want to give back mobility to those who’ve lost it,” said Julienne Paypay, a 35-year-old prosthetic technician who herself lost a leg as a child. “I know what it means to walk again.”

In the workshop, the smell of plaster mixes with the hum of generators and the whirring of saws.

Workers carefully carve, mold, and assemble the prosthetic limbs one by one.

The challenges are steep. “All materials are imported. With insecurity, the lack of a functioning airport, and new customs regulations, everything is harder,” said Sylvain Kambale, the center’s administrator. “We only have two qualified technicians for hundreds of patients still waiting.”

Red Cross says it will continue to work with the center to bring in more professionals to meet the growing need.

For Amani, his new prosthetic leg symbolizes a fresh start and new hope. “I will fight for my children. I want to reopen my shop," he said. "I don’t see my prosthetic as a weakness but as a victory.”

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Jerome Jean-Claude Amani, one of many wounded by fighting in the region, receives his prothetic leg from Julienne Paypay, an amputee herself since the age of 6, at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Melissa Amuli, one of many wounded by fighting in the region, sits in her home in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Protectics are manufactured by hand at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

A victim of fighting in the region, waits for physiotherapy at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Patrick Mauka, one of many wounded by fighting in the region, poses for a photo at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Jerome Jean-Claude Amani, one of many wounded by fighting in the region, poses for a photo at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Faustin Amani, one of many wounded by fighting in the region, poses for a photo at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Jerome Jean-Claude Amani, one of many wounded by fighting in the region, tries his prosthetic leg at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Jerome Jean-Claude Amani, one of many wounded by fighting in the region, waits for his prosthetic leg at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation on Saturday sought to reassure Denmark and Greenland of their support following President Donald Trump's threat to punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. taking over the strategic Arctic island.

Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said the current rhetoric around Greenland is causing concern across the Danish kingdom. He said he wants to de-escalate the situation.

“I hope that the people of the Kingdom of Denmark do not abandon their faith in the American people,” Coons said in Copenhagen, adding that the U.S. has respect for Denmark and NATO “for all we’ve done together.”

Meanwhile, thousands of people marched through Copenhagen, many of them carrying Greenland’s flag, on Saturday afternoon in support of the self-governing island. Others held signs with slogans like “Make America Smart Again” and “Hands Off.” Another rally was planned in Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital,

Coons' comments contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals. The White House hasn’t ruled out taking the territory by force.

“There are no current security threats to Greenland,” Coons said.

Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”

During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

“I may do that for Greenland, too,” Trump said. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said.

He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.

Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences, but did produce an agreement to set up a working group — on whose purpose Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public views.

European leaders have insisted it is only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.

“There is almost no better ally to the United States than Denmark,” Coons said. “If we do things that cause Danes to question whether we can be counted on as a NATO ally, why would any other country seek to be our ally or believe in our representations?”

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Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

People gather for a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

People gather for a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

People march during a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Icicles hang from the roof of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A Danish serviceman walks in front of Joint Arctic Command center in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Senator Chris Coons from the Democratic Party speaks during a press conference with the American delegation, consisting of senators and members of the House of Representatives, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)