Tag Archives: MONUSCO

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Kigali says two mortar bombs fired into Rwanda from DRC

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Rwanda’s military spokesman said two mortar bombs were fired into the country from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday.

He said the bombs, which caused no injuries, were fired in mid-afternoon “deliberately” and blamed the DRC army – the FARDC – and the UN force MONUSCO on the grounds they were fired from territory they control.

“Two bombs landed at Kageshi and Gasiza,” Joseph Nzabamwita said in a statement, referring to two villages in Rubavu district in northwestern Rwanda which borders the troubled eastern DR Congo.

Nzabamwita said the attack was a “provocative and deliberate act by FARDC and MONUSCO since there was no fighting nearby between the warring factions.”

His accusation came amid fierce clashes across the border between the DRC army and M23 rebels, which flared again Sunday around the flashpoint Congolese city of Goma, leaving at least 130 dead, according to a government spokesman.

Rwanda, along with neighbouring Uganda, has been accused of backing the M23, a charge both countries have denied.

Meanwhile Kigali has accused the DRC of co-operating with Rwandan Hutu rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) whose leaders are wanted for their alleged involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Nzabamwita said the army had “credible information” that FDLR rebels were “currently embedded” in the DRC army.

The M23 briefly seized control of Goma, the capital of DRC’s North Kivu province last November but then pulled out.

The rebel group has since been weakened by an outright split into two factions and ensuing internal fighting that resulted in heavy casualties and a wave of desertions.

Talks in the Ugandan capital Kampala destined to restore calm to North Kivu started in December but have made little headway.

Since the talks started the only outbreak of fighting recorded between M23 and the army was in May.

The M23 however is just one of a myriad of armed groups operating in eastern Congo and other groups are involved in skirmishes and abuses against the civilian population on a regular basis.

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

UN set to authorize intervention force for Congo

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The U.N. Security Council was set Thursday to authorize a new “intervention brigade” for Congo with an unprecedented mandate to take military action against rebel groups in order to help bring peace to the country’s conflict-wracked east.

U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations on the brigade have been private, said they expect the council to unanimously approve the draft resolution.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, told a news conference that “we shall be adopting a long awaited resolution” that will reconfigure the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, “recognizing the necessity of decisively countering the destructive” violence that has left eastern Congo in turmoil since the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

The intervention brigade would be unprecedented in U.N. peacekeeping because of its offensive mandate. But the draft resolution states clearly that it would be established for one year “on an exceptional basis and without creating a precedent” to the principles of U.N. peacekeeping.

The French-drafted resolution would give the brigade a mandate to carry out offensive operations alone or with Congolese army troops to neutralize and disarm armed groups “in a robust, highly mobile and versatile manner” to ensure that they can’t seriously threaten government authority or the security of civilians.

The brigade would be part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, within its troop ceiling of 19,815. The United Nations currently has more than 17,700 U.N. peacekeepers and more than 1,400 international police in Congo.

Churkin said “it is of the utmost importance that the new resolution confirms the basic principles of U.N. peacekeeping, and the mandate of the brigade and the military component directly under it are divided.”

The proposed resolution would extend MONUSCO‘s mandate until March 31, 2014. The “intervention brigade” headquarters would be in the key eastern city of Goma. U.N. officials say it will probably include between 2,000 and 3,000 troops.

Mineral-rich eastern Congo has been engulfed in fighting since the 1994 Rwanda genocide, in which at least 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu militias before a Tutsi-led rebel army took power in Rwanda. More than 1 million Rwandan Hutus fled across the border into Congo, and Rwanda has invaded Congo several times to take action against Hutu militias there.

The exploitation of Congo‘s mineral …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

UN plans to use spy drones over eastern Congo

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The Security Council has approved the use of surveillance drones over eastern Congo to monitor roving militias so it can more effectively deploy U.N. peacekeepers.

A letter released Thursday from the president of the Security Council to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the council members note the robot spy planes will be used “on a case-by-case basis” and will not set a precedent for the U.N.’s general consideration of “legal, financial and technical implications of the use of unmanned aerial systems.”

The letter from Pakistan U.N. Ambassador Masood Khan, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency, was released as a U.N. expert launched a special investigation into drone warfare and targeted killings, which the United States relies on as a front-line weapon in its global war against al-Qaida.

Civilian killings and injuries that result from drone strikes on suspected terrorist cells will be part of the focus of the investigation by British lawyer Ben Emmerson, the U.N. rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights. The U.N. said Emmerson will present his findings to the U.N. General Assembly later this year.

The U.N.’s spy drones over Congo would be unarmed.

Ban proposed in December that the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo be supplied with “intervention” troops, night-vision equipment, surveillance drones with cameras and enhanced river patrols.

The proposals are aimed at improving the protection of civilians from the threat of armed groups in Congo‘s vast mineral-rich eastern region, which has been engulfed in fighting since the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

The Security Council wants to beef up the U.N. peacekeeping force known as MONUSCO, which has more than 17,700 U.N. peacekeepers and over 1,400 international police, following last year’s takeover of many villages and towns in eastern Congo by M23 rebels who briefly held Goma before withdrawing in early December.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous had previously faced opposition from neighboring Rwanda, which is believed to be backing the M23, especially on the possible deployment of unarmed drones. Diplomats said Russia was among the other countries raising concerns about the use of drones.

The Rwandan government denies any support for the M23, which is made up of hundreds of soldiers who deserted the Congolese army in April, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic group that was targeted for extermination by Hutu militias during the Rwanda genocide. Since withdrawing from Goma, M23 has taken steps toward negotiating with the Congolese government.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the consultations were closed, said France, Britain, the U.S. and other Western countries back the deployment of drones and other advanced equipment in eastern Congo, saying it would enhance the ability of peacekeepers to track armed groups and help protect U.N. forces from ambushes.

U.N. officials say drones could also be useful in other African conflicts and possibly in the search in Central Africa for leaders and members of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a brutal gang of jungle militiamen headed by warlord Joseph Kony, who is accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News