Submit this form
Home News Videos Music Photos Facebook Twitter Friends Newsletter Podcasts Mobile RSS
MONUC rejects claims of army link to militia groups


Photo: IRIN
MONUC soldiers on patrol in DRC. It is the largest UN force in the world
KIGALI, 3 October 2007 (IRIN) - The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) has no evidence that the Congolese army has joined forces with outlawed Hutu and Mayi-Mayi militia groups to purge a rebellion by dissident army commander, Gen Laurent Nkunda, a spokesman for MONUC said on 3 October.

MONUC's military spokesman, Maj Gabriel de Brosses, was reacting to media reports indicating that a new alliance, known as the Front for the Liberation of North Kivu, was patrolling parts of eastern Congo alongside the army.

The government of the DRC has vowed to eliminate from its eastern provinces armed militiamen known as the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), which include in their ranks some of the perpetrators of neighbouring Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

"We don't think such an alliance took place because the FDLR is one of the major problems that the DRC is facing," De Brosses in a telephone interview. "There might be something happening at a very local level but ? the FARDC [Congolese army] cannot afford to be associated with the FDLR."

However, observers and analysts have in recent weeks suggested that the demoralised and weakened regular army might be forced to turn to militias for support in crushing Nkunda's rebellion, which is centred in North Kivu province.

René Abanzi, a spokesman for Nkunda, said reports of the alliance between the Congolese army and the militias were true.

''There might be something happening at a local level but the army cannot afford to be associated with the FDLR''
"[The alliance] is something that anyone can verify," Abanzi said by telephone. "We are taking prisoners from the FDLR. They are being given uniforms. They are being given ammunition."

The conflicting reports reflect growing confusion in the region, which has deepened since fighting erupted in late August between Nkunda's National Congress for the People's Defence and the Congolese army.

Nkunda broke ranks with the army in 2004, accusing Congo's administration of failing to protect ethnic Tutsis in the region from attacks by Hutu militias.

Congolese officials say they are unable to hunt down the militias.

Aid groups and the UN note that civilians in eastern Congo have borne the brunt of the ongoing fighting, which has resulted in scores of deaths and the displacement of thousands of civilians.

Humanitarian organisations warn of a deepening crisis in the region while instability has prevented them from reaching thousands of civilians.

An estimated 90,000 people have fled fighting in the region since August, adding to about 650,000 already displaced in North Kivu during and after Congo's 1998-2003 war.

That conflict, which began when Rwanda invaded eastern Congo to track down Hutu militias, claimed an estimated four million lives, mostly from hunger and disease, and embroiled the region, pulling in seven neighbouring nations.

MONUC is the largest peacekeeping mission in the world, comprising nearly 17,000 troops.

nk/js/mw


Related articles


  1. At least 30 dead after massacres in Ituri (March 2, 2018)
  2. Peacekeepers, Congo Army to Resume Joint Fight Against Rwandan Rebels (January 28, 2016)
  3. Political tensions 'running high' in DR Congo ahead of 2016 elections (October 7, 2015)
  4. DRC Army Putting Pressure on FDLR (April 1, 2015)
  5. Southern African Leaders to Meet in Zimbabwe (August 15, 2014)
  6. Kerry Calls on Kabila to Honor Constitution (May 4, 2014)
  7. Security Council extends UN mission, intervention force in DR Congo for one year (March 28, 2014)
  8. New DR Congo amnesty law welcomed by UN envoys (February 5, 2014)
  9. Colonel Mamadou Ndala Is Killed in Ambush (January 2, 2014)
  10. No 'Peace Deal' With Defeated M23 Rebels, DR Congo Says (November 11, 2013)
  11. Congo Will Not Sign a 'Peace Deal' With Defeated M23 Rebels, Government Says (November 6, 2013)
  12. Congo Army Takes Control of Mbuzi Hill From M23 Rebels (November 4, 2013)
  13. Kabila Congratulates Congo Army for Defeating M23 Rebels (October 30, 2013)
  14. Advancing Congo Troops Take Control of Rumangabo From M23 Rebels (October 28, 2013)
  15. Congo Army Liberates Rutshuru, Kiwanja and Kibumba From M23 Rebels (October 27, 2013)
  16. Congo Army Dislodges M23 Rebels From Strategic Town of Kibumba (October 26, 2013)
  17. Ban Ki-moon Confirms M23 Rebels Shelled Rwanda (August 31, 2013)
  18. DR Congo Will Defend Itself Against an Attack by Rwanda, Government Says (August 31, 2013)
  19. M23 Rebels Fired Shells Into Rwanda, Not Congo Army, UN Says (August 30, 2013)
  20. Mortar Shells From Rwanda Kill Civilians in Eastern Congo (August 23, 2013)
  21. Dozens of M23 Rebels Killed by Congo Army in Renewed Fighting (August 22, 2013)
  22. UN Peacekeepers Start Enforcing Security Zone in Eastern Congo (August 1, 2013)
  23. DR Congo Asks Rwanda to Turn Over M23 Rebel Leaders (July 26, 2013)
  24. UN Security Council debate focuses on peace efforts for Africa's Great Lakes region (July 25, 2013)
  25. M23 Rebels Said to Flee Rumangabo After Congo Army Airstrikes (July 25, 2013)
  26. Congo Army Strikes M23 Rebels Base At Rumangabo (July 24, 2013)
  27. M23 Rebels Kill, Rape Civilians in Eastern Congo: Human Rights Watch (July 22, 2013)
  28. M23 Rebels in Disarray in Eastern Congo, Says Government Spokesman (July 19, 2013)
  29. 120 M23 Rebels Killed in East, Government Says (July 15, 2013)
  30. U.S. Sanctions M23 Rebel Leaders (December 18, 2012)


Live TV Congo Radio en ligne Radio
Available on App Store
Get it on Google Play



Contact Us | About Us | Édition en Français | French Edition

© CongoPlanet.com. All rights reserved.