Polymathic
Honorary Master
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Lets just face it the DR Congo is way too big to be governable
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Fighting in the Eastern Congo / M23 Rebels
- Thread starter LazyLion
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LazyLion
King of de Jungle
SA Troops in DRC well equipped
South African troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo on a UN peace mission are well prepared, the military said on Friday.
"We are adequately equipped and we are ready," SA National Defence Force joint operations chief Lt-Gen Derrick Mgwebi told reporters at the Thaba Tshwane Military base in Pretoria.
He said the United Nations had requested South African authorities to send additional weaponry to the turbulent central African country.
"The artillery battery is coming from Tanzania and it's already on the ground. [Regarding the helicopters] we were approached, they [UN] looked at what we have, the capabilities [of the Rooivalk attack helicopters] and they were happy," he said.
"You then have to tell the UN how much it is going to cost them because you don't want to fly it [the helicopters] on the taxpayer's account. We are not sending any pieces of artillery but we will send the Rooivalk if the UN agrees."
Mgwebi said the world body had yet to pay for the further deployments it requested.
"They have requested a battalion from us and we have given them [the soldiers]. We [also] have three Oryx helicopters already on the ground," he said.
"When you give them, it speaks to the issues of reimbursement. We said 'we give you and you reimburse the country'."
He said the UN was required to sign documentation before additional weaponry was sent to the DRC.
"We have said to them we are ready and this is what it is going to mean to you [financially] as the UN, the rates. The ball is in their court, not in South Africa's," said Mgwebi.
He said the UN had not requested South Africa to send Gripen fighter jets to the DRC.
"My understanding of the UN as an organisation and looking at the threat on the ground, does the M23 and all those negative forces warrant a Gripen? The answer is 'no'," said Mgwebi
"We have never been approached to provide anything which looks like a Gripen. We are not considering [sending] the Gripen."
Mgwebi said it was not clear when South African soldiers would be returning home.
Last week, President Jacob Zuma informed Parliament that 1345 soldiers had been deployed to the DRC as part of the UN Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) in the eastern DRC.
The deployment of the FIB followed the passing of a UN resolution in March authorising a force to intervene in cases where negative forces threatened people's lives and property in the east of the DRC.
Zuma said on Thursday that no South African soldiers had been critically wounded in clashes with rebels in the DRC.
"Three of our soldiers have been injured in the conflict since the weekend, largely from shrapnel wounds. None have been seriously wounded," Zuma told reporters at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
"Our soldiers are well-trained and are ready for their responsibilities towards building a better and more peaceful Africa. South Africa has deployed troops in fulfilment of our international obligations towards the United Nations," he said.
Source : Sapa /jm/hdw/jk/ks
Date : 30 Aug 2013 12:38
South African troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo on a UN peace mission are well prepared, the military said on Friday.
"We are adequately equipped and we are ready," SA National Defence Force joint operations chief Lt-Gen Derrick Mgwebi told reporters at the Thaba Tshwane Military base in Pretoria.
He said the United Nations had requested South African authorities to send additional weaponry to the turbulent central African country.
"The artillery battery is coming from Tanzania and it's already on the ground. [Regarding the helicopters] we were approached, they [UN] looked at what we have, the capabilities [of the Rooivalk attack helicopters] and they were happy," he said.
"You then have to tell the UN how much it is going to cost them because you don't want to fly it [the helicopters] on the taxpayer's account. We are not sending any pieces of artillery but we will send the Rooivalk if the UN agrees."
Mgwebi said the world body had yet to pay for the further deployments it requested.
"They have requested a battalion from us and we have given them [the soldiers]. We [also] have three Oryx helicopters already on the ground," he said.
"When you give them, it speaks to the issues of reimbursement. We said 'we give you and you reimburse the country'."
He said the UN was required to sign documentation before additional weaponry was sent to the DRC.
"We have said to them we are ready and this is what it is going to mean to you [financially] as the UN, the rates. The ball is in their court, not in South Africa's," said Mgwebi.
He said the UN had not requested South Africa to send Gripen fighter jets to the DRC.
"My understanding of the UN as an organisation and looking at the threat on the ground, does the M23 and all those negative forces warrant a Gripen? The answer is 'no'," said Mgwebi
"We have never been approached to provide anything which looks like a Gripen. We are not considering [sending] the Gripen."
Mgwebi said it was not clear when South African soldiers would be returning home.
Last week, President Jacob Zuma informed Parliament that 1345 soldiers had been deployed to the DRC as part of the UN Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) in the eastern DRC.
The deployment of the FIB followed the passing of a UN resolution in March authorising a force to intervene in cases where negative forces threatened people's lives and property in the east of the DRC.
Zuma said on Thursday that no South African soldiers had been critically wounded in clashes with rebels in the DRC.
"Three of our soldiers have been injured in the conflict since the weekend, largely from shrapnel wounds. None have been seriously wounded," Zuma told reporters at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
"Our soldiers are well-trained and are ready for their responsibilities towards building a better and more peaceful Africa. South Africa has deployed troops in fulfilment of our international obligations towards the United Nations," he said.
Source : Sapa /jm/hdw/jk/ks
Date : 30 Aug 2013 12:38
Why?
genetic
Honorary Master
I call seriaaas BS on your comment.
I must have missed the UN Security Council resolution authorising this.
How is it that this is legal but military intervention in response to chemical weapons attacks on civilians requires a UN resolution to be legal ?
How is it that this is legal but military intervention in response to chemical weapons attacks on civilians requires a UN resolution to be legal ?
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Congolese Army Siezes M23 Rebel stronghold
The Congolese army seized a stronghold of the M23 rebel movement outside the provincial capital Goma, local radio station Radio Okapi reported Saturday.
Government troops backed by a United Nations peacekeeping force took control of Munigi town, about 20 kilometres outside Goma, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province.
On Friday, an M23 leader announced the rebels would withdraw from the frontline in eastern Congo to pave the way for a ceasefire, but keep positions near Goma, which borders Rwanda.
The army continued to pursue the M23 throughout their withdrawal, military spokesman Olivier Hamuli said.
"We are pursuing them to throw them off. We are relieved, especially for the population of Goma, which has been suffering under the bombardments," Hamuli told Radio Okapi.
The M23 - or Movement of March 23 - was formed in 2012 by about 300 soldiers, mainly from the Tutsi community, who deserted. They cited poor conditions in the army and Kinshasa's unwillingness to implement a peace deal.
In November, the M23 briefly captured Goma, but withdrew when the government agreed to a series of demands, including negotiations. A peace deal has remained elusive.
Source : Sapa-dpa /gq
Date : 31 Aug 2013 10:18
The Congolese army seized a stronghold of the M23 rebel movement outside the provincial capital Goma, local radio station Radio Okapi reported Saturday.
Government troops backed by a United Nations peacekeeping force took control of Munigi town, about 20 kilometres outside Goma, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province.
On Friday, an M23 leader announced the rebels would withdraw from the frontline in eastern Congo to pave the way for a ceasefire, but keep positions near Goma, which borders Rwanda.
The army continued to pursue the M23 throughout their withdrawal, military spokesman Olivier Hamuli said.
"We are pursuing them to throw them off. We are relieved, especially for the population of Goma, which has been suffering under the bombardments," Hamuli told Radio Okapi.
The M23 - or Movement of March 23 - was formed in 2012 by about 300 soldiers, mainly from the Tutsi community, who deserted. They cited poor conditions in the army and Kinshasa's unwillingness to implement a peace deal.
In November, the M23 briefly captured Goma, but withdrew when the government agreed to a series of demands, including negotiations. A peace deal has remained elusive.
Source : Sapa-dpa /gq
Date : 31 Aug 2013 10:18
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
DR Congo Army to hit rebel stronghold
Congolese troops readied Monday to seize a stronghold of M23 fighters in the resource-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but there was no sign of frontline fighting as top UN officials flew in.
Troops, backed by a special United Nations force, launched a fresh assault against the M23 army mutineers late last month, with the rebels pulling back on Friday from positions around the mining hub city of Goma.
There was no fighting to be heard Monday afternoon, said an AFP photographer near the frontline some 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Goma.
The lull coincided with the arrival in Goma of UN special envoy Mary Robinson.
"What happened here in Goma is terrible. I'm glad that calm has returned," Robinson said on her arrival at the airport.
The former Irish president was to meet with the local authorities and civil society.
"I have come for the people of Goma, the women, the children. That is what is important," Robinson went on.
The people of Goma were for the most part going about their business as usual Monday, an AFP reporter said.
Shops and markets were open and some traders reported business had picked up somewhat since the M23's 15-kilometre (10 mile) pullback on Friday.
DR Congo forces are aiming to take back the rebel base at Kibumba, some 30 kilometres north of Goma, with government troops just some two kilometres from the insurgent base.
The attack on Kibumba is expected "in the very near future", a senior Congolese army officer told AFP.
The army had previously claimed to have already taken Kibumba, but the reports were dismissed by rebels.
On Friday, M23 fighters retreated from positions around 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of Goma they had held since December, where they had dug in after agreeing a deal to end their 12-day occupation of the city.
The rebels said their decision for a 'unilateral ceasefire' and withdrawal was aimed at "creating a favourable climate" for a "political solution to the crisis".
However, they warned that they were not prepared to wait long for the government to reciprocate.
The two parties are engaged in talks in the Ugandan capital Kampala, but these negotiations have made virtually no progress since they started at the end of last year.
Overnight Sunday, the M23 accused the government of readying "troops and tanks to open a new military front in Mabenga", a town some 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Goma.
Western military sources confirmed tanks had been recently deployed near Mabenga, a strategic town commanding a key crossroads.
The military offensive also came amid fresh UN accusations made last week that Rwanda -- a temporary Security Council member -- has been actively backing the rebels.
On Thursday, the UN said it had "consistent and credible reports" of Rwandan troops entering DR Congo to support the rebels, but Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo scotched the reports in comments made on Twitter.
"Rwandan troops are not in DRC (yet), when they are, you will know," she wrote Friday, without giving further details.
Rwanda has always flatly denied supporting the M23, a predominantly ethnic-Tutsi force that deserted from the Congolese army last year to turn its guns on its comrades.
The two eastern Kivu provinces, North and South, have been chronically unstable since two wars wracked the vast country between 1996 and 2003, drawing in armies from neighbouring and southern African countries, who fought in part over access to vast mineral wealth.
The latest flaring of fighting in the east risks further complicating the so-called National Dialogue, a nationwide concertation that is supposed to involve the country's political parties and civil society groups and that is due to open Wednesday in three major cities.
The three major opposition parties have already said they will boycott the dialogue, which is supposed to result in a solution to DR Congo's political, social and military woes.
On Thursday delegates from 11 countries in the region will meet in Kampala, with special envoy Robinson in attendance, in the latest of what has been billed as a series of attempts to restore peace to eastern DR Congo.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/hdw/cls
Date : 02 Sep 2013 17:25
Congolese troops readied Monday to seize a stronghold of M23 fighters in the resource-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but there was no sign of frontline fighting as top UN officials flew in.
Troops, backed by a special United Nations force, launched a fresh assault against the M23 army mutineers late last month, with the rebels pulling back on Friday from positions around the mining hub city of Goma.
There was no fighting to be heard Monday afternoon, said an AFP photographer near the frontline some 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Goma.
The lull coincided with the arrival in Goma of UN special envoy Mary Robinson.
"What happened here in Goma is terrible. I'm glad that calm has returned," Robinson said on her arrival at the airport.
The former Irish president was to meet with the local authorities and civil society.
"I have come for the people of Goma, the women, the children. That is what is important," Robinson went on.
The people of Goma were for the most part going about their business as usual Monday, an AFP reporter said.
Shops and markets were open and some traders reported business had picked up somewhat since the M23's 15-kilometre (10 mile) pullback on Friday.
DR Congo forces are aiming to take back the rebel base at Kibumba, some 30 kilometres north of Goma, with government troops just some two kilometres from the insurgent base.
The attack on Kibumba is expected "in the very near future", a senior Congolese army officer told AFP.
The army had previously claimed to have already taken Kibumba, but the reports were dismissed by rebels.
On Friday, M23 fighters retreated from positions around 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of Goma they had held since December, where they had dug in after agreeing a deal to end their 12-day occupation of the city.
The rebels said their decision for a 'unilateral ceasefire' and withdrawal was aimed at "creating a favourable climate" for a "political solution to the crisis".
However, they warned that they were not prepared to wait long for the government to reciprocate.
The two parties are engaged in talks in the Ugandan capital Kampala, but these negotiations have made virtually no progress since they started at the end of last year.
Overnight Sunday, the M23 accused the government of readying "troops and tanks to open a new military front in Mabenga", a town some 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Goma.
Western military sources confirmed tanks had been recently deployed near Mabenga, a strategic town commanding a key crossroads.
The military offensive also came amid fresh UN accusations made last week that Rwanda -- a temporary Security Council member -- has been actively backing the rebels.
On Thursday, the UN said it had "consistent and credible reports" of Rwandan troops entering DR Congo to support the rebels, but Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo scotched the reports in comments made on Twitter.
"Rwandan troops are not in DRC (yet), when they are, you will know," she wrote Friday, without giving further details.
Rwanda has always flatly denied supporting the M23, a predominantly ethnic-Tutsi force that deserted from the Congolese army last year to turn its guns on its comrades.
The two eastern Kivu provinces, North and South, have been chronically unstable since two wars wracked the vast country between 1996 and 2003, drawing in armies from neighbouring and southern African countries, who fought in part over access to vast mineral wealth.
The latest flaring of fighting in the east risks further complicating the so-called National Dialogue, a nationwide concertation that is supposed to involve the country's political parties and civil society groups and that is due to open Wednesday in three major cities.
The three major opposition parties have already said they will boycott the dialogue, which is supposed to result in a solution to DR Congo's political, social and military woes.
On Thursday delegates from 11 countries in the region will meet in Kampala, with special envoy Robinson in attendance, in the latest of what has been billed as a series of attempts to restore peace to eastern DR Congo.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/hdw/cls
Date : 02 Sep 2013 17:25
Someone please remind me what is South Africa doing up there? We are loosing the war on crime and now have decided to get involved into a new one. And don't give me that peace keeping bull****. Who is keeping the peace down my street where the shebeen is? Every few minutes someone gets raped, assaulted or killed in SA yet we care about DRC 
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Banned
Keeping the lifestyle from up there, becoming the norm here...oh wait...
Who is keeping the peace down my street where the shebeen is? Every few minutes someone gets raped, assaulted or killed in SA yet we care about DRC
The police?...oh wait... http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/556865-A-Thin-and-Broken-Blue-Line
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
M23 Rebels Enforce 'Unacceptable' Curfew
M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo are enforcing a curfew in areas under their control, the UN peacekeeping mission said Wednesday, calling the move "completely unacceptable".
MONUSCO spokesman Felix Basse said UN troops were monitoring the situation in the area of the resource-rich east of the country controlled by the rebels during the current lull in fighting.
"At the moment, it is time to consolidate the positions recovered by the army pending further actions in the future," said Basse.
"The M23, which in practice controls the territory of Rutshuru (north of Goma)," has "imposed a curfew on civilians," said the Senegalese officer.
He said this was "completely unacceptable" and the situation was "being monitored by UN troops until future action".
The rebels, who seized Goma for 12 days in November before withdrawing to the surrounding hills under international pressure, retreated this week to around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the city in the face of a new UN-backed offensive by the army.
The M23 was launched by Tutsi soldiers who mutinied from the army in April 2012 and turned their guns on their former comrades.
The UN and the Kinshasa government accuse neighbouring Rwanda of supporting the rebels, a charge Kigali denies.
The latest comments came as defence chiefs and foreign ministers from Africa's Great Lakes region met in Uganda in the latest bid to end the fighting in DR Congo.
Congolese troops, backed by a special United Nations force, launched a fresh assault against the M23 army mutineers in the turbulent North-Kivu province late last month
On Friday, the rebels retreated to Kibumba, some 30 kilometres north of Goma, the capital of the mineral-rich province of North Kivu.
Although there has been no fighting since Sunday, a high-ranking army officer told AFP on Monday that an offensive on Kibumba was planned "in the near future". He added that army positions were within two kilometres of the town.
Army spokesman Olivier Hamuli said the goal was to "consolidate" positions it had gained in the East, "knowing that Rwanda is behind" the M23.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/cls
Date : 04 Sep 2013 18:24
M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo are enforcing a curfew in areas under their control, the UN peacekeeping mission said Wednesday, calling the move "completely unacceptable".
MONUSCO spokesman Felix Basse said UN troops were monitoring the situation in the area of the resource-rich east of the country controlled by the rebels during the current lull in fighting.
"At the moment, it is time to consolidate the positions recovered by the army pending further actions in the future," said Basse.
"The M23, which in practice controls the territory of Rutshuru (north of Goma)," has "imposed a curfew on civilians," said the Senegalese officer.
He said this was "completely unacceptable" and the situation was "being monitored by UN troops until future action".
The rebels, who seized Goma for 12 days in November before withdrawing to the surrounding hills under international pressure, retreated this week to around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the city in the face of a new UN-backed offensive by the army.
The M23 was launched by Tutsi soldiers who mutinied from the army in April 2012 and turned their guns on their former comrades.
The UN and the Kinshasa government accuse neighbouring Rwanda of supporting the rebels, a charge Kigali denies.
The latest comments came as defence chiefs and foreign ministers from Africa's Great Lakes region met in Uganda in the latest bid to end the fighting in DR Congo.
Congolese troops, backed by a special United Nations force, launched a fresh assault against the M23 army mutineers in the turbulent North-Kivu province late last month
On Friday, the rebels retreated to Kibumba, some 30 kilometres north of Goma, the capital of the mineral-rich province of North Kivu.
Although there has been no fighting since Sunday, a high-ranking army officer told AFP on Monday that an offensive on Kibumba was planned "in the near future". He added that army positions were within two kilometres of the town.
Army spokesman Olivier Hamuli said the goal was to "consolidate" positions it had gained in the East, "knowing that Rwanda is behind" the M23.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/cls
Date : 04 Sep 2013 18:24
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Congolese M23 Rebels agree to hold peace talks
The Congolese rebel militia M23 said Friday it was ready to hold peace talks with the government, as regional leaders made a push to resolve the crisis in eastern Congo.
M23 has been waging an insurgency for about a year and a half. In November the group took control of Goma, the key city in the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but later withdrew.
Talks between the rebels and the government broke down earlier this year, and regional leaders have been meeting in Uganda this week in a bid to restart negotiations following heavy clashes between the rebels and government forces.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda on Thursday met with his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila. Rwanda, and to a lesser extent Uganda, have been accused of aiding the rebels, charges that both countries deny.
"All the members of our delegation are already here to start the negotiations," the chief rebel negotiator, Rene Abandi, told dpa.
The rebels declared a ceasefire last week and implied they would be willing to deal with the government.
The government wants the rebels, comprised largely of ethnic Tutsi soldiers who defected, to disarm and become a political party. It is unclear how much the government is willing to offer in the talks.
According to the United Nations, which is backing the peace talks,
the fighting since April last year has displaced more than 100,000 people, adding to the 2.6 million people who had fled their homes because of previous violence.
A special UN fighting force in eastern Congo recently launched its first attacks on the rebels. The 3,000-strong force joins some 20,000 UN peacekeepers already in Congo.
Source : Sapa-dpa /lk
Date : 06 Sep 2013 12:07
The Congolese rebel militia M23 said Friday it was ready to hold peace talks with the government, as regional leaders made a push to resolve the crisis in eastern Congo.
M23 has been waging an insurgency for about a year and a half. In November the group took control of Goma, the key city in the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but later withdrew.
Talks between the rebels and the government broke down earlier this year, and regional leaders have been meeting in Uganda this week in a bid to restart negotiations following heavy clashes between the rebels and government forces.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda on Thursday met with his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila. Rwanda, and to a lesser extent Uganda, have been accused of aiding the rebels, charges that both countries deny.
"All the members of our delegation are already here to start the negotiations," the chief rebel negotiator, Rene Abandi, told dpa.
The rebels declared a ceasefire last week and implied they would be willing to deal with the government.
The government wants the rebels, comprised largely of ethnic Tutsi soldiers who defected, to disarm and become a political party. It is unclear how much the government is willing to offer in the talks.
According to the United Nations, which is backing the peace talks,
the fighting since April last year has displaced more than 100,000 people, adding to the 2.6 million people who had fled their homes because of previous violence.
A special UN fighting force in eastern Congo recently launched its first attacks on the rebels. The 3,000-strong force joins some 20,000 UN peacekeepers already in Congo.
Source : Sapa-dpa /lk
Date : 06 Sep 2013 12:07
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Rebels in Uganda for Peace Talks
Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels said Monday they were waiting for a government delegation to arrive to resume peace talks, in line with an ultimatum set by regional leaders.
Leaders of Africa's Great Lakes region on Thursday set a three-day deadline for the resumption of talks between the M23 army mutineers and Kinshasa aimed to broker an end to a recent upsurge in fighting in the resource-rich east of DR Congo.
The talks, to be held once again in the Ugandan capital Kampala, should be concluded within 14 days.
"All our delegation members are here," M23 delegation chief Rene Abandi told AFP Monday. "We are waiting for the arrival of the government side and we resume the talks."
Talks between the two sides were suspended in May, and the agreement to reopen them follows a recent upsurge in violence in the country, where Congolese troops backed by a special United Nations force launched a fresh assault against the rebels late last month.
Previous rounds of talks were repeatedly delayed, and it was not clear if talks would actually begin Monday.
However, both sides have committed to restarting the slow moving talks.
"We want peace talks and we are ready for them," Abandi said.
Officials in the office of the Ugandan mediator, defence minister Crispus Kiyonga, said they were expecting the imminent arrival of Kinshasha's team, but could not say when talks would actually begin.
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 09 Sep 2013 11:16
Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels said Monday they were waiting for a government delegation to arrive to resume peace talks, in line with an ultimatum set by regional leaders.
Leaders of Africa's Great Lakes region on Thursday set a three-day deadline for the resumption of talks between the M23 army mutineers and Kinshasa aimed to broker an end to a recent upsurge in fighting in the resource-rich east of DR Congo.
The talks, to be held once again in the Ugandan capital Kampala, should be concluded within 14 days.
"All our delegation members are here," M23 delegation chief Rene Abandi told AFP Monday. "We are waiting for the arrival of the government side and we resume the talks."
Talks between the two sides were suspended in May, and the agreement to reopen them follows a recent upsurge in violence in the country, where Congolese troops backed by a special United Nations force launched a fresh assault against the rebels late last month.
Previous rounds of talks were repeatedly delayed, and it was not clear if talks would actually begin Monday.
However, both sides have committed to restarting the slow moving talks.
"We want peace talks and we are ready for them," Abandi said.
Officials in the office of the Ugandan mediator, defence minister Crispus Kiyonga, said they were expecting the imminent arrival of Kinshasha's team, but could not say when talks would actually begin.
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 09 Sep 2013 11:16
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
UN says Rebels pushed back from key city
The U.N. peacekeeping chief says Congolese and U.N. troops have pushed back the M23 rebel group and it no longer poses a threat to Goma, one of the country's largest cities.
Herve Ladsous called the military action a "very significant achievement" that inflicted casualties on the M23 and likely led the rebels to resume talks with the government in neighboring Uganda's capital, Kampala.
"The M23 group has been pushed back towards the north to such a place that it does not anymore pose the direct threat that it had posed for such a long time either on the city of Goma" or surrounding camps for displaced people and U.N. positions, he said.
Ladsous said that with the resumption of talks "diplomacy has become again the order of the day."
Source : Sapa-AP /nsm
Date : 13 Sep 2013 03:37
The U.N. peacekeeping chief says Congolese and U.N. troops have pushed back the M23 rebel group and it no longer poses a threat to Goma, one of the country's largest cities.
Herve Ladsous called the military action a "very significant achievement" that inflicted casualties on the M23 and likely led the rebels to resume talks with the government in neighboring Uganda's capital, Kampala.
"The M23 group has been pushed back towards the north to such a place that it does not anymore pose the direct threat that it had posed for such a long time either on the city of Goma" or surrounding camps for displaced people and U.N. positions, he said.
Ladsous said that with the resumption of talks "diplomacy has become again the order of the day."
Source : Sapa-AP /nsm
Date : 13 Sep 2013 03:37
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
DR Congo's displaced families at risk as food aid dries up
Some of the most haunting victims of the two decades of conflict ravaging eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are the starving children -- and with the World Food Programme struggling to fund its operations here, their fate looks likely to get worse.
At the Mugunga I refugee camp, where more than 50,000 displaced people live crowded together under white tents, hundreds of mothers line up at the health centre to get a special liquid called "premix" -- a porridge of maize meal, soy, oil and sugar that provides their children 1,057 precious calories.
It also lures the mothers into the clinic -- a handful of dilapidated, one-storey buildings sheltered by a copse of large trees -- for paediatric care and lessons on nutrition.
The programme has rescued more than 900 children from malnutrition in the past 10 months.
But its future is threatened by the financial troubles the WFP is facing in DR Congo.
The UN food agency has been hit by a funding shortfall because of budget constraints in economically stagnant donor countries and emergencies such as the Syria conflict that have devoured resources that would have otherwise been spent elsewhere.
In DR Congo, the WFP must come up with $70 million to fund its operations for the next six months.
The problem stretches beyond the Mugunga camp. The WFP had planned to give food aid to 4.2 million people in the vast central African country by the end of 2015.
The WFP has called malnutrition in DR Congo a "silent emergency", one that affects 60 percent of children under five years old.
The rate is even higher in the mineral-rich but deeply troubled east, the cradle of back-to-back wars that rocked the country from 1996 to 2003 and the scene of a still-raging conflict between the military and a group of army mutineers called the M23.
"The needs here are immense," said Sister Marie-Valerie, a nun who runs the health centre at the edge of the Mugunga camp for Catholic charity Caritas.
"The people in the camp have nothing," and the residents of the surrounding area do not fare much better, she said. "They can barely come up with one meal a day."
The consequences of malnutrition can last a lifetime, and sap a nation's resources through higher child mortality rates and physical and mental underdevelopment.
To fight it, Caritas launched the pilot "premix" programme at Mugunga in December for an initial period of one year.
Funded by the WFP, it is open to children aged six months to five years and pregnant and nursing mothers.
But the WFP's money problems mean programmes like this one risk grinding to a halt.
On a recent day at the Mugunga health centre, the noise of crying babies filled the air as mothers in brightly coloured dresses waited in the drizzling rain to have their children weighed, measured and looked over from head to toe -- check-ups designed to detect malnourishment.
After taking part in a nutrition class in a dark wooden building, the mothers left clutching enough porridge to give their children the 240-gramme (8.5-ounce) daily dose for 15 days.
The mothers had five or six children on average, and health workers adamantly told them to give the mixture only to the ones who had been diagnosed with malnutrition.
The programme is working, said Sister Marie-Valerie: 85 percent of children get better within three months.
Justine Nabanyera, who has seven children, had two of them admitted to the programme, part of a group of 56 new enrollees that day.
She said the porridge would allow her to give her children a more complete diet than just the normal food aid she receives.
"The WFP (aid) for people displaced by the war is really not enough," she said.
Mapendo Mubawa, a 30-year-old mother of nine, was there with two of her children, who were also registered for the programme.
"I have hope that my children will get better soon," she said.
But to guarantee that happens, the WFP must find more funding.
Without it, "we risk being unable to continue helping those who benefit from our programmes from November," said Wolfram Herfurth, the WFP's coordinator for eastern DR Congo.
Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 17 Oct 2013 05:19
Some of the most haunting victims of the two decades of conflict ravaging eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are the starving children -- and with the World Food Programme struggling to fund its operations here, their fate looks likely to get worse.
At the Mugunga I refugee camp, where more than 50,000 displaced people live crowded together under white tents, hundreds of mothers line up at the health centre to get a special liquid called "premix" -- a porridge of maize meal, soy, oil and sugar that provides their children 1,057 precious calories.
It also lures the mothers into the clinic -- a handful of dilapidated, one-storey buildings sheltered by a copse of large trees -- for paediatric care and lessons on nutrition.
The programme has rescued more than 900 children from malnutrition in the past 10 months.
But its future is threatened by the financial troubles the WFP is facing in DR Congo.
The UN food agency has been hit by a funding shortfall because of budget constraints in economically stagnant donor countries and emergencies such as the Syria conflict that have devoured resources that would have otherwise been spent elsewhere.
In DR Congo, the WFP must come up with $70 million to fund its operations for the next six months.
The problem stretches beyond the Mugunga camp. The WFP had planned to give food aid to 4.2 million people in the vast central African country by the end of 2015.
The WFP has called malnutrition in DR Congo a "silent emergency", one that affects 60 percent of children under five years old.
The rate is even higher in the mineral-rich but deeply troubled east, the cradle of back-to-back wars that rocked the country from 1996 to 2003 and the scene of a still-raging conflict between the military and a group of army mutineers called the M23.
"The needs here are immense," said Sister Marie-Valerie, a nun who runs the health centre at the edge of the Mugunga camp for Catholic charity Caritas.
"The people in the camp have nothing," and the residents of the surrounding area do not fare much better, she said. "They can barely come up with one meal a day."
The consequences of malnutrition can last a lifetime, and sap a nation's resources through higher child mortality rates and physical and mental underdevelopment.
To fight it, Caritas launched the pilot "premix" programme at Mugunga in December for an initial period of one year.
Funded by the WFP, it is open to children aged six months to five years and pregnant and nursing mothers.
But the WFP's money problems mean programmes like this one risk grinding to a halt.
On a recent day at the Mugunga health centre, the noise of crying babies filled the air as mothers in brightly coloured dresses waited in the drizzling rain to have their children weighed, measured and looked over from head to toe -- check-ups designed to detect malnourishment.
After taking part in a nutrition class in a dark wooden building, the mothers left clutching enough porridge to give their children the 240-gramme (8.5-ounce) daily dose for 15 days.
The mothers had five or six children on average, and health workers adamantly told them to give the mixture only to the ones who had been diagnosed with malnutrition.
The programme is working, said Sister Marie-Valerie: 85 percent of children get better within three months.
Justine Nabanyera, who has seven children, had two of them admitted to the programme, part of a group of 56 new enrollees that day.
She said the porridge would allow her to give her children a more complete diet than just the normal food aid she receives.
"The WFP (aid) for people displaced by the war is really not enough," she said.
Mapendo Mubawa, a 30-year-old mother of nine, was there with two of her children, who were also registered for the programme.
"I have hope that my children will get better soon," she said.
But to guarantee that happens, the WFP must find more funding.
Without it, "we risk being unable to continue helping those who benefit from our programmes from November," said Wolfram Herfurth, the WFP's coordinator for eastern DR Congo.
Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 17 Oct 2013 05:19
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Renewed fighting breaks out in Eastern Congo
The Congolese government and M23 rebels say that violence has resumed between the two sides in the country's volatile east.
Congolese army spokesman Lt. Col. Olivier Hamuli confirmed that heavy fighting broke out Friday around 4 a.m. in Kanyamahoro.
Each side accused the other of sabotaging the peace process after days of high-level peace talks in the Ugandan capital failed to yield a breakthrough.
Talks have repeatedly stalled in recent months amid sporadic clashes between Congolese forces and M23 rebels in eastern Congo.
U.N. envoys have said that this time there were disagreements over amnesty, disarmament, integration and security arrangements for the M23 rebels.
M23 launched its rebellion against the government last year and briefly seized the city of Goma a year ago.
Source : Sapa-AP /th/jk
Date : 25 Oct 2013 10:16 OrigID : LC473196
The Congolese government and M23 rebels say that violence has resumed between the two sides in the country's volatile east.
Congolese army spokesman Lt. Col. Olivier Hamuli confirmed that heavy fighting broke out Friday around 4 a.m. in Kanyamahoro.
Each side accused the other of sabotaging the peace process after days of high-level peace talks in the Ugandan capital failed to yield a breakthrough.
Talks have repeatedly stalled in recent months amid sporadic clashes between Congolese forces and M23 rebels in eastern Congo.
U.N. envoys have said that this time there were disagreements over amnesty, disarmament, integration and security arrangements for the M23 rebels.
M23 launched its rebellion against the government last year and briefly seized the city of Goma a year ago.
Source : Sapa-AP /th/jk
Date : 25 Oct 2013 10:16 OrigID : LC473196
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
DR Congo Army in 'last phase' push against M23 rebels
Democratic Republic of Congo troops were in a mopping up operation to rout the remaining pockets of the M23 rebel movement, after seizing their last stronghold in a push to finally break the back of the insurgency.
At the same time, a US envoy called Thursday for "semi-permanent" peace talks, saying that the world needed to do more for eastern DR Congo after the end of the M23 rebellion.
Thousands have fled the fighting between government troops and the M23 movement, which was founded by ethnic Tutsi former rebels who were incorporated into the Congolese army under a 2009 peace deal but then mutinied in April 2012, claiming that the pact had never been fully implemented.
Congolese troops were carrying out operations against the rebel resistance in territory near the Ugandan border, following an offensive launched six days earlier, a local resident in the town of Jomba said, reached by telephone.
The resident, who asked not to be named, told AFP that a little girl had "been wounded by a bullet" in the latest fighting but gave no details.
"The soldiers spent the night here and then went to the front" at dawn, he said.
Sustained gunfire could be heard on the phone, as the source confirmed that the warring sides were also using heavy weapons. An AFP journalist on the Ugandan side of border could hear mortar fire.
A source in the UN mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO), which is helping the army, said the offensive against the M23 was in "the last phase", after the army captured the main rebel base at Bunagana on Wednesday.
Diehard M23 fighters, estimated at just a few hundred men, were dug in on three hills in farming territory about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Goma, the capital of strife-torn North Kivu province.
The Congolese army (FARDC) "has encircled the residual M23 positions to dislodge them. The operation is under way," the source said.
Since fighting resumed on October 25, after peace talks collapsed in Uganda, no UN troops have directly taken part in the offensive, but MONUSCO has provided government forces with intelligence, reconnaissance and logistical help.
After the fall of the rebel headquarters at Bunagana, President Joseph Kabila on Wednesday again urged the M23 fighters to "demobilise voluntarily", warning that his men would otherwise "make them do so by force".
Kabila said that "political and diplomatic solutions" remained on the negotiating table in Uganda's capital Kampala, where the rival sides have held stop-start talks since December and their representatives expressed guarded optimism.
"The negotiations are making progress," M23's deputy delegation chief Roger Lumbala said at midday Thursday. "Maybe today, they will have finished and we can put an accord on the table to sign it."
Russ Feingold, the US special envoy for the Great Lakes region, said he expected that the talks in Kampala would lead within days to an agreement in which M23 rebels would disband.
Feingold, who will travel Sunday to South Africa for regional meetings, noted however that there were still "40 to 45 armed groups in eastern Congo."
"I think we need actual mediated talks, peace talks -- a semi-permanent mechanism," said the former US senator in Washington.
Violence also broke early Thursday in Lubumbashi, the country's second largest city, when members of the armed group Bakata Katanga, seeking independence for Katanga province, attacked the home of the military police chief, killing one soldier, an official source who requested anonymity told AFP.
On Tuesday the same group had attacked a munitions depot in the southeast region, leaving three rebels and three soldiers dead according to officials. But an AFP correspondent reported that 23 "mournings" had been organised at the military camp for those killed in the attack, which would bring the death toll to 29.
The conflict with the M23 rebels has displaced hundreds of thousands of people in North Kivu, a densely populated province rich in precious minerals and agricultural produce that has been a battleground for soldiers, rebels and militias for more than two decades.
Some 5,000 civilians crossed into Uganda at Bunagana between Monday and Wednesday, according to the United Nations.
Kinshasa and the United Nations charge that M23 is backed by neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, an allegation the two countries strongly refute.
At their strongest in November last year, M23 marched into Goma, a mining hub city of one million people, and took control for 10 days, before regional leaders persuaded them into fresh peace talks.
Source : Sapa-AFP /ge
Date : 01 Nov 2013 04:37
Democratic Republic of Congo troops were in a mopping up operation to rout the remaining pockets of the M23 rebel movement, after seizing their last stronghold in a push to finally break the back of the insurgency.
At the same time, a US envoy called Thursday for "semi-permanent" peace talks, saying that the world needed to do more for eastern DR Congo after the end of the M23 rebellion.
Thousands have fled the fighting between government troops and the M23 movement, which was founded by ethnic Tutsi former rebels who were incorporated into the Congolese army under a 2009 peace deal but then mutinied in April 2012, claiming that the pact had never been fully implemented.
Congolese troops were carrying out operations against the rebel resistance in territory near the Ugandan border, following an offensive launched six days earlier, a local resident in the town of Jomba said, reached by telephone.
The resident, who asked not to be named, told AFP that a little girl had "been wounded by a bullet" in the latest fighting but gave no details.
"The soldiers spent the night here and then went to the front" at dawn, he said.
Sustained gunfire could be heard on the phone, as the source confirmed that the warring sides were also using heavy weapons. An AFP journalist on the Ugandan side of border could hear mortar fire.
A source in the UN mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO), which is helping the army, said the offensive against the M23 was in "the last phase", after the army captured the main rebel base at Bunagana on Wednesday.
Diehard M23 fighters, estimated at just a few hundred men, were dug in on three hills in farming territory about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Goma, the capital of strife-torn North Kivu province.
The Congolese army (FARDC) "has encircled the residual M23 positions to dislodge them. The operation is under way," the source said.
Since fighting resumed on October 25, after peace talks collapsed in Uganda, no UN troops have directly taken part in the offensive, but MONUSCO has provided government forces with intelligence, reconnaissance and logistical help.
After the fall of the rebel headquarters at Bunagana, President Joseph Kabila on Wednesday again urged the M23 fighters to "demobilise voluntarily", warning that his men would otherwise "make them do so by force".
Kabila said that "political and diplomatic solutions" remained on the negotiating table in Uganda's capital Kampala, where the rival sides have held stop-start talks since December and their representatives expressed guarded optimism.
"The negotiations are making progress," M23's deputy delegation chief Roger Lumbala said at midday Thursday. "Maybe today, they will have finished and we can put an accord on the table to sign it."
Russ Feingold, the US special envoy for the Great Lakes region, said he expected that the talks in Kampala would lead within days to an agreement in which M23 rebels would disband.
Feingold, who will travel Sunday to South Africa for regional meetings, noted however that there were still "40 to 45 armed groups in eastern Congo."
"I think we need actual mediated talks, peace talks -- a semi-permanent mechanism," said the former US senator in Washington.
Violence also broke early Thursday in Lubumbashi, the country's second largest city, when members of the armed group Bakata Katanga, seeking independence for Katanga province, attacked the home of the military police chief, killing one soldier, an official source who requested anonymity told AFP.
On Tuesday the same group had attacked a munitions depot in the southeast region, leaving three rebels and three soldiers dead according to officials. But an AFP correspondent reported that 23 "mournings" had been organised at the military camp for those killed in the attack, which would bring the death toll to 29.
The conflict with the M23 rebels has displaced hundreds of thousands of people in North Kivu, a densely populated province rich in precious minerals and agricultural produce that has been a battleground for soldiers, rebels and militias for more than two decades.
Some 5,000 civilians crossed into Uganda at Bunagana between Monday and Wednesday, according to the United Nations.
Kinshasa and the United Nations charge that M23 is backed by neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, an allegation the two countries strongly refute.
At their strongest in November last year, M23 marched into Goma, a mining hub city of one million people, and took control for 10 days, before regional leaders persuaded them into fresh peace talks.
Source : Sapa-AFP /ge
Date : 01 Nov 2013 04:37
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Leader of beleagured rebels calls for truce
The leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels has called for a ceasefire as government troops waged an offensive against the die-hard fighters in the country's troubled east.
The call came with the rebels on the back foot as Congolese troops pounded hilltop positions where some 200 fighters have holed up after being forced from their last stronghold this week.
"We order all the forces of the Congolese revolutionary army to immediately end hostilities with the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC)," M23 president Bertrand Bisimwa said in a statement on Sunday.
He said his aim was to "allow the continuation of the political process" with Kinshasa in a bid to end the insurgency rocking the long-troubled region since April 2012.
Bisimwa urged rebel chiefs to "ensure the strict observance of this order by elements under their command."
His order was issued in the midst of fierce fighting in the mountainous region bordering Uganda and Rwanda. The FARDC forces on Sunday launched a fresh offensive against the rebels who fled to the hills after their base was seized Wednesday in the town of Bunagana, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the regional capital Goma.
According to AFP correspondents in Ntamugenga, close to the battle zone, the fighting raged for about eight hours and had appeared to intensify after the ceasefire order.
"We are pounding Mbuzi," one of three mountains in eastern DR Congo where the rebels are hiding, General Lucien Bahuma told AFP by telephone earlier Sunday. "After the artillery we will send in the troops."
A DR Congo captain, speaking anonymously, said the army was "claiming back the hills. There is shooting in the mountains of Ntamugenga, Mbuzi and Runyonyi. The rebels are fleeing."
The lush green hilly region has been rocked by heavy fighting for the past 10 days as FARDC troops battle to stamp out the insurgency once and for all in the restive, mineral-rich Nord Kivu province.
The clashes have forced thousands from their fields and homes, and aid agencies estimate about 10,000 refugees have streamed into Uganda.
When contacted by AFP, M23 spokesman Vianney Kazarama insisted that the ceasefire order from the group's political branch would be carried out. "It is an undisputed order," he said.
A Congolese government's spokesman said Bisimwa's order was "perhaps a first step but we are waiting to see what follows and we have given instructions to our troops to act with restraint."
The head of the UN mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO), Martin Kobler, said he considered the M23 order "a good first step", adding that it "must be followed by declaring an end to the rebellion."
However, an officer with MONUSCO told AFP there were fears of renewed fierce fighting on Monday.
While the UN forces have not directly participated in the battle since October 25 against the M23 rebels, they have supported the Congolese army with logistics, intelligence and planning.
The M23 movement was founded by ethnic Tutsi former rebels who were incorporated into the Congolese army under a 2009 peace deal but then mutinied in April 2012, claiming that the pact had never been fully implemented.
At their strongest in November last year, M23 marched into Goma, a mining hub and city of one million people, and took control for 10 days, before regional leaders persuaded them into fresh peace talks.
But the stop-start talks fell apart last month when Kinshasa refused amnesty for about 80 rebel leaders and the DR Congo army -- backed by a special United Nations force -- went on the attack in a bid to end the rebellion.
Source : Sapa-AFP /ge
Date : 04 Nov 2013 05:42
The leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels has called for a ceasefire as government troops waged an offensive against the die-hard fighters in the country's troubled east.
The call came with the rebels on the back foot as Congolese troops pounded hilltop positions where some 200 fighters have holed up after being forced from their last stronghold this week.
"We order all the forces of the Congolese revolutionary army to immediately end hostilities with the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC)," M23 president Bertrand Bisimwa said in a statement on Sunday.
He said his aim was to "allow the continuation of the political process" with Kinshasa in a bid to end the insurgency rocking the long-troubled region since April 2012.
Bisimwa urged rebel chiefs to "ensure the strict observance of this order by elements under their command."
His order was issued in the midst of fierce fighting in the mountainous region bordering Uganda and Rwanda. The FARDC forces on Sunday launched a fresh offensive against the rebels who fled to the hills after their base was seized Wednesday in the town of Bunagana, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the regional capital Goma.
According to AFP correspondents in Ntamugenga, close to the battle zone, the fighting raged for about eight hours and had appeared to intensify after the ceasefire order.
"We are pounding Mbuzi," one of three mountains in eastern DR Congo where the rebels are hiding, General Lucien Bahuma told AFP by telephone earlier Sunday. "After the artillery we will send in the troops."
A DR Congo captain, speaking anonymously, said the army was "claiming back the hills. There is shooting in the mountains of Ntamugenga, Mbuzi and Runyonyi. The rebels are fleeing."
The lush green hilly region has been rocked by heavy fighting for the past 10 days as FARDC troops battle to stamp out the insurgency once and for all in the restive, mineral-rich Nord Kivu province.
The clashes have forced thousands from their fields and homes, and aid agencies estimate about 10,000 refugees have streamed into Uganda.
When contacted by AFP, M23 spokesman Vianney Kazarama insisted that the ceasefire order from the group's political branch would be carried out. "It is an undisputed order," he said.
A Congolese government's spokesman said Bisimwa's order was "perhaps a first step but we are waiting to see what follows and we have given instructions to our troops to act with restraint."
The head of the UN mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO), Martin Kobler, said he considered the M23 order "a good first step", adding that it "must be followed by declaring an end to the rebellion."
However, an officer with MONUSCO told AFP there were fears of renewed fierce fighting on Monday.
While the UN forces have not directly participated in the battle since October 25 against the M23 rebels, they have supported the Congolese army with logistics, intelligence and planning.
The M23 movement was founded by ethnic Tutsi former rebels who were incorporated into the Congolese army under a 2009 peace deal but then mutinied in April 2012, claiming that the pact had never been fully implemented.
At their strongest in November last year, M23 marched into Goma, a mining hub and city of one million people, and took control for 10 days, before regional leaders persuaded them into fresh peace talks.
But the stop-start talks fell apart last month when Kinshasa refused amnesty for about 80 rebel leaders and the DR Congo army -- backed by a special United Nations force -- went on the attack in a bid to end the rebellion.
Source : Sapa-AFP /ge
Date : 04 Nov 2013 05:42
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Fresh assault on rebel positions
Democratic Republic of Congo's troops launched a fresh assault on M23 rebel positions in the east on Monday, despite a ceasefire call by the insurgents, the fighters said.
In a statement, the rebels said the army was pounding their positions in the hills, where some 200 diehard fighters have holed up after being driven from their last stronghold last week. On Sunday, the leader of the beleaguered rebels Bertrand Bisimwa called for a truce.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/tk/jje
Date : 04 Nov 2013 09:38
Democratic Republic of Congo's troops launched a fresh assault on M23 rebel positions in the east on Monday, despite a ceasefire call by the insurgents, the fighters said.
In a statement, the rebels said the army was pounding their positions in the hills, where some 200 diehard fighters have holed up after being driven from their last stronghold last week. On Sunday, the leader of the beleaguered rebels Bertrand Bisimwa called for a truce.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/tk/jje
Date : 04 Nov 2013 09:38
Terrorist calling for a truce? Lol.