Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – Has a new war front opened in the Democratic Republic of Congo? This is what the media Congolese and international observers are wondering, while there continue to be uncertain and contradictory reports from Dongo, in northwest DRC. Since the end of October, this area has been affected by serious violence, initially described as inter-communal clashes over control of several rivers rich in fish life, but the fact that a helicopter of the MONUC (United Nations Mission in Congo) has been the target of gun shots (from a "heavy weapon" says a spokesman for the UN) suggests that even in that area an attempt is being made to destabilize the country. The incident took place on November 26, when a MONUC helicopter officially on a humanitarian mission was struck by several bullets while flying over Dongo. Five of the 25 people aboard the aircraft were injured. On the Internet it became a statement from a group calling itself the "resistant patriots", a clue that the crisis of Dongo is much broader than a simple inter-communal conflict. The Kinshasa government has sent police and military reinforcements into the area, in addition to about 600 men in a battalion of commandos, trained by instructors from Belgium. MONUC has announced that it will provide logistical support to the Congolese Army.
"Even in the Kivu and in Ituri, the war is well begun," says an editorial in the "Potentiel", recalling the crises affecting the two provinces in the east. Presented at first as local disputes (especially in Ituri) the two crises have proven more complex and intertwined, revealing a series of political, economic and international criminals with vast ramifications.
The crisis of Dongo is involving the neighboring Republic of Congo (also known as Congo Brazzaville), where over 77,000 civilians have fled fleeing violence, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Another 38,000 people have fled to various places along a belt of 160 km on the banks of the River Oubangui. The World Food Program, on December 8, sent 300 tonnes of food with a ship set out on the river. The water level of the river is dropping and there are fears, however, that after December 15 the Oubangui will no longer be navigable, thus depriving organizations of the only route used to transport humanitarian aid. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 11/12/2009)
