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Fighting in the Eastern Congo / M23 Rebels
- Thread starter LazyLion
- Start date
Compton_effect
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Now is not the time for a truce.
Hopefully they hammer their postions untill they ask for a unconditional surrender.
Anything else would mean we are back to this in 2 years.
Hopefully they hammer their postions untill they ask for a unconditional surrender.
Anything else would mean we are back to this in 2 years.
Hamish McPanji
Honorary Master
Agreed. But this problem will not go away. The instigators need to be dealt with on a diplomatic and/or military basis.
Rwanda especially has a strong army, not much land and not much resources. The people directly across the border are the same tribe and language and so will by default support the insurgents.The aim of these rebellions is to essentially annex a mineral resource rich part of DRC and fold it into Rwanda in all aspect except name, so there is a call for autonomy in that eastern region , which if put to a referendum in that region will fall to a 'Rwanda friendly' regime (think Iraq and Kuwait)
Compton_effect
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UN brigade fighting against DRC rebels
Yep. Seems the plan is to wipe them out as a resistance group.
This is probably going to start a massive debate, but the old colonial borders are turning into a major headache. Rwanda and the DRC is just one. Africa is filled with issues like that.
Yep. Seems the plan is to wipe them out as a resistance group.
This is probably going to start a massive debate, but the old colonial borders are turning into a major headache. Rwanda and the DRC is just one. Africa is filled with issues like that.
Hamish McPanji
Honorary Master
You don't know the half of it. Borders created by Europeans and Americans based on a criteria only known to themselves with absolutely no considerations for the 'natives' except to ensure that the ability to create an 'empowered' minority exists whose power will remain only as long as the colonialist masters are still there.
This essentially keeps the majority in check, with the minority being the enforcers of the status quo.
When independence finally arrives, the dislike of that minority is at fever pitch and so are not only disenfranchised, but are the target of violent attacks by the majority. They take it for a few years, and finally rebel. Being more educated and trained (from colonial times) than the majority they have a fair chance of overthrowing the government. When/if they do, they disenfranchise the majority. After a while the majority rebel. The cycle continues.
Add some mineral wealth into the fray, and you have the continent of Africa
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
DR Congo declares total victory over M23 rebels: Minister
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced early Tuesday that it had achieved "total victory" over the M23 rebel movement.
"The last elements of the M23 have abandoned their positions in Runyonyi and Chanzu under pressure from FARDC (government forces) who have just entered there," said the country's communications minister and government spokesman in a text message received by AFP.
He was referring to two hilltop positions about 80 kilometres north of regional capital Goma where dozens of holdout rebels had dug in.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 05 Nov 2013 07:33 OrigID : LC615177
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced early Tuesday that it had achieved "total victory" over the M23 rebel movement.
"The last elements of the M23 have abandoned their positions in Runyonyi and Chanzu under pressure from FARDC (government forces) who have just entered there," said the country's communications minister and government spokesman in a text message received by AFP.
He was referring to two hilltop positions about 80 kilometres north of regional capital Goma where dozens of holdout rebels had dug in.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 05 Nov 2013 07:33 OrigID : LC615177
Compton_effect
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I've read up on the Rwandan civil war. Same with Eritrea, Burundi, etc. Heck. Look at the Caprivi Strip. The Germans bought it from the British to get access to the Zambezi river. Some idea about using it as a trade route to East Africa (Vic Falls, anyone?)
SA actually tried to turn it into a self governing entity in the 70's to sort out that mess. Now Namibia is holding to it for the water rights and the tourism revenue.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Insurgents declare an end to rebellion
M23 insurgents in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced they were ending their rebellion on Tuesday, hours after the government declared victory.
The group said in a statement they had "decided from this day to end its rebellion" and instead pursue its goals "through purely political means".
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/tk/jje
Date : 05 Nov 2013 10:50
M23 insurgents in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced they were ending their rebellion on Tuesday, hours after the government declared victory.
The group said in a statement they had "decided from this day to end its rebellion" and instead pursue its goals "through purely political means".
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/tk/jje
Date : 05 Nov 2013 10:50
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Aren't these the guys who said they were going to stuff up our SA soldiers? 
Hamish McPanji
Honorary Master
Aren't these the guys who said they were going to stuff up our SA soldiers?
Yeah. Was there last week and listening to the opposition politicians having a go at the government
'These South Africans are here for their own interests, and when its time to pay the price, are we willing to do that' + all sorts if other crap about imperialism. 'These SA guys have come here to take over the mines and nothing else' . 'We have given them too much control' . etc etc
Compton_effect
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What did they expect? Charity? This from the same guys who sold all the topsoil in one province to the Chinese. :wtf:
Hamish McPanji
Honorary Master
That country is fsked up at all levels. its not even really a country, just a set of states with the pretence of a government, like Afghanistan
KhoisanX
Expert Member
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Below is a timeline of unrest in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo linked to the M23, which announced on Tuesday it was laying down its arms, after a crushing assault by the UN-backed army.
--2012--
- April 29: Fierce clashes break out between defecting soldiers who are former rebels from the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) and loyalist forces in the eastern North Kivu province.
- May 6: The mutineers, ex-members of the CNDP, set up a rebel movement called M23, named after a peace deal that was signed on March 23, 2009 but later fell apart.
- November 20: M23 rebels seize Goma, the capital of North Kivu. On the 24th regional leaders hold the first of several meetings in Kampala and call on the M23 to pull out of Goma.
- December 1: The rebels leave Goma.
- December 9: Negotiations begin in Kampala between the government and the M23.
- December 31: The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on the M23, including an arms embargo.
--2013--
- February 24: Eleven African countries sign a UN-brokered accord in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aimed at bringing peace and stability to DR Congo.
- March 28: The UN Security Council approves the first-ever "offensive" UN peacekeeping brigade with orders to "neutralise" and "disarm" rebel groups operating in the east. It is known as the MONUSCO brigade.
- August 13: An army colonel deserts the DRC's government forces with about 30 of his men to join the ranks of the M23 rebels, according to the UN-backed Radio Okapi.
- August 30: The rebels announce a withdrawal north of Goma following an offensive by government and newly deployed MONUSCO brigade.
- October 25: The army launches an offensive in North Kivu, succeeding in several days in ousting the M23 from most of the territory it occupies.
- November 3: The army moves its offensive to the mountainous region bordering Uganda, where the rebels fled after being ousted from their last stronghold.
- November 4: The UN special force for the first time joins in the assault by the Congolese army.
- November 5: The government announces it had achieved "total victory" over the rebels after pushing the insurgents from the last two hilltops they controlled.
Hours later, the M23 announces it is ending its rebellion.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/th
Date : 05 Nov 2013 13:01
--2012--
- April 29: Fierce clashes break out between defecting soldiers who are former rebels from the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) and loyalist forces in the eastern North Kivu province.
- May 6: The mutineers, ex-members of the CNDP, set up a rebel movement called M23, named after a peace deal that was signed on March 23, 2009 but later fell apart.
- November 20: M23 rebels seize Goma, the capital of North Kivu. On the 24th regional leaders hold the first of several meetings in Kampala and call on the M23 to pull out of Goma.
- December 1: The rebels leave Goma.
- December 9: Negotiations begin in Kampala between the government and the M23.
- December 31: The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on the M23, including an arms embargo.
--2013--
- February 24: Eleven African countries sign a UN-brokered accord in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aimed at bringing peace and stability to DR Congo.
- March 28: The UN Security Council approves the first-ever "offensive" UN peacekeeping brigade with orders to "neutralise" and "disarm" rebel groups operating in the east. It is known as the MONUSCO brigade.
- August 13: An army colonel deserts the DRC's government forces with about 30 of his men to join the ranks of the M23 rebels, according to the UN-backed Radio Okapi.
- August 30: The rebels announce a withdrawal north of Goma following an offensive by government and newly deployed MONUSCO brigade.
- October 25: The army launches an offensive in North Kivu, succeeding in several days in ousting the M23 from most of the territory it occupies.
- November 3: The army moves its offensive to the mountainous region bordering Uganda, where the rebels fled after being ousted from their last stronghold.
- November 4: The UN special force for the first time joins in the assault by the Congolese army.
- November 5: The government announces it had achieved "total victory" over the rebels after pushing the insurgents from the last two hilltops they controlled.
Hours later, the M23 announces it is ending its rebellion.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/th
Date : 05 Nov 2013 13:01
Ockie
Resident Lead Bender
And with that I heard on the radio the conflict is over!
Seriously though .... I am glad it is over. Lets hope they can now keep the peace going.
Compton_effect
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First ever offensive UN brigade...
And not the last one.
This is history in the making, gents.
And not the last one.
This is history in the making, gents.
Hamish McPanji
Honorary Master
And with that I heard on the radio the conflict is over!
Seriously though .... I am glad it is over. Lets hope they can now keep the peace going.
Am not so confident. They are surrounded by countries who want their resources, and DRC is the size of western Europe. So defending their borders is impossible.
Unless they nip the buds in Kigali and Kampala this is just a temporary pitstop.l
To be continued............
KhoisanX
Expert Member
And with that I heard on the radio the conflict is over!
Seriously though .... I am glad it is over. Lets hope they can now keep the peace going.
Unfortunately the conflict is far from over. M23 might be defeated, but there are many other groups that the FIB is mandated to eliminate.
Compton_effect
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And they've been taking notes. The Block 1F Rooivalk is fitted with some state of the art countermeasures, but you can bet easy money the number of Anti Air assets in the DRC is going to increase. And so many of the damn stuff lying around. Literally.
Algerian troops find huge arms cache on Libyan border
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
While the M23 rebellion monopolised the headlines on conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for over a year, before announcing on Tuesday it was laying down its weapons, many other armed groups are active in the country.
They fight in the North and South Kivu provinces, as well as further to the north and south, against the government or against other armed groups, in a series of often shifting alliances, and prey on the civilian population.
Here is a selection of some key forces:
M23: Army mutineers, for the most part Congolese Tutsi who speak the Rwandan language Kinyarwanda. Former rebels, they were integrated into the DRC army in 2009 but mutinied in April 2012, complaining that the peace deal had not been fully implemented. Kinshasa and the United Nations accuse the group of being backed by Rwanda and to a lesser extent by Uganda -- a charge denied by both Kigali and Kampala. M23 briefly seized and occupied Goma in November 2012. On Tuesday the rebels said they were laying down their arms after a crushing assault by the UN-backed army pushed them out of the last two hills they held. According to foreign military sources, at the end they numbered fewer than 1,000 fighters, against 1,700 in August.
ALLIED DEMOCRATIC FORCES (ADF): Beginning as a group of Ugandan rebels opposed to the regime of President Yoweri Museveni, they have since also developed an Islamist agenda. Based in the Rwenzori mountains that straddle the Uganda/DR Congo border. Estimates as to their number vary from several hundred to 1,300.
DEMOCRATIC FORCES FOR THE LIBERATION OF RWANDA (FDLR): Rwandan Hutu rebels based in DR Congo since they fled Rwanda after the genocide in 1994, in which some 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis, were killed. Their avowed aim was -- and technically still is -- to overthrow the Rwandan government, but for many years they have preyed mainly on Congolese civilians. FDLR fighters have been estimated to number between 1,500 and 2,000.
NATIONAL LIBERATION FORCES (FNL): A Burundian rebel group that once again took up arms against the Bujumbura government after the 2010 elections that were boycotted by the opposition, five years after the end of a civil war. Part of the FNL uses DRC's South Kivu province as a fallback base.
ECUMENICAL FORCES FOR THE LIBERATION OF CONGO (FOLC): Backed by an ex-rebel leader Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi, who became a government minister until September 2011. Active in the northern part of North Kivu, the FOLC is thought to have agreed to lay down its arms earlier this year.
MAI MAI AND ASSIMILATED GROUPS:
There are at least 20 Mai Mai factions, or community-based militia forces. They are present in North and South Kivu, as well as in other regions, notably Katanga province. Some of the groups number fewer than 100 and team up with other groups when they need to fight; others number more than 1,000.
NYATURA: Evolved from the former Mai Mai group Pareco, or Resistant Congolese Patriots. Many of the guerrillas integrated into the DRC army in 2009, but the remainder continue to fight.
ALLIANCE OF PATRIOTS FOR A FREE AND SOVEREIGN CONGO (APCLS): Group based in Masisi in North Kivu. Represents the interests of the Hunde people and fights groups made up mainly of Kinyarwanda speakers.
Both Nyatura and the APCLS fought against the M23 in November 2012.
Several groups have been set up to defend the local populations, including Raia Mutomboki, which has battled the FDLR, and the Congolese Defence Forces. However, they are regularly accused of attacking civilians.
Other armed groups operate elsewhere in the country, including in Ituri, a region that lies to the north of North Kivu, and in the mining province of Katanga to the south.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/cls
Date : 05 Nov 2013 13:34
They fight in the North and South Kivu provinces, as well as further to the north and south, against the government or against other armed groups, in a series of often shifting alliances, and prey on the civilian population.
Here is a selection of some key forces:
M23: Army mutineers, for the most part Congolese Tutsi who speak the Rwandan language Kinyarwanda. Former rebels, they were integrated into the DRC army in 2009 but mutinied in April 2012, complaining that the peace deal had not been fully implemented. Kinshasa and the United Nations accuse the group of being backed by Rwanda and to a lesser extent by Uganda -- a charge denied by both Kigali and Kampala. M23 briefly seized and occupied Goma in November 2012. On Tuesday the rebels said they were laying down their arms after a crushing assault by the UN-backed army pushed them out of the last two hills they held. According to foreign military sources, at the end they numbered fewer than 1,000 fighters, against 1,700 in August.
ALLIED DEMOCRATIC FORCES (ADF): Beginning as a group of Ugandan rebels opposed to the regime of President Yoweri Museveni, they have since also developed an Islamist agenda. Based in the Rwenzori mountains that straddle the Uganda/DR Congo border. Estimates as to their number vary from several hundred to 1,300.
DEMOCRATIC FORCES FOR THE LIBERATION OF RWANDA (FDLR): Rwandan Hutu rebels based in DR Congo since they fled Rwanda after the genocide in 1994, in which some 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis, were killed. Their avowed aim was -- and technically still is -- to overthrow the Rwandan government, but for many years they have preyed mainly on Congolese civilians. FDLR fighters have been estimated to number between 1,500 and 2,000.
NATIONAL LIBERATION FORCES (FNL): A Burundian rebel group that once again took up arms against the Bujumbura government after the 2010 elections that were boycotted by the opposition, five years after the end of a civil war. Part of the FNL uses DRC's South Kivu province as a fallback base.
ECUMENICAL FORCES FOR THE LIBERATION OF CONGO (FOLC): Backed by an ex-rebel leader Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi, who became a government minister until September 2011. Active in the northern part of North Kivu, the FOLC is thought to have agreed to lay down its arms earlier this year.
MAI MAI AND ASSIMILATED GROUPS:
There are at least 20 Mai Mai factions, or community-based militia forces. They are present in North and South Kivu, as well as in other regions, notably Katanga province. Some of the groups number fewer than 100 and team up with other groups when they need to fight; others number more than 1,000.
NYATURA: Evolved from the former Mai Mai group Pareco, or Resistant Congolese Patriots. Many of the guerrillas integrated into the DRC army in 2009, but the remainder continue to fight.
ALLIANCE OF PATRIOTS FOR A FREE AND SOVEREIGN CONGO (APCLS): Group based in Masisi in North Kivu. Represents the interests of the Hunde people and fights groups made up mainly of Kinyarwanda speakers.
Both Nyatura and the APCLS fought against the M23 in November 2012.
Several groups have been set up to defend the local populations, including Raia Mutomboki, which has battled the FDLR, and the Congolese Defence Forces. However, they are regularly accused of attacking civilians.
Other armed groups operate elsewhere in the country, including in Ituri, a region that lies to the north of North Kivu, and in the mining province of Katanga to the south.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv/cls
Date : 05 Nov 2013 13:34