AFRICA/CONGO DR - The defeat of the M23 seems likely but there are 40 other armed groups in North Kivu

Monday, 4 November 2013

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - The Congolese army offensive against the rebels of the M23 in North Kivu (eastern DRC ) continues, despite the unilateral ceasefire announced on Sunday, November 3 by the leadership of the rebel movement.
The fights are concentrated in the area of Bunagana, 80 km from Goma, capital of North Kivu.
If the defeat of the M23 seems likely, several observers, however, say that the Congolese province is still far from finding peace within its territory because there are still about forty armed groups that are waiting to be brought under control by the authorities.
Despite the presence of UN peacekeepers of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), in eastern DRC, 2.6 million people have been displaced and 4.6 million live in a state of food emergency.
Other groups still present in the area are the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), originally established by the Hutu extremists who fled Rwanda in 1994. This formation according to the report published in June 2013 by the UN experts, is divided between extremists and moderates, the latter largely composed of young people who would like to lay down their weapons and integrate into civil society.
There are also various Mai-Mai groups, self-defense militias, who have woven alliance with the strongest teams, as well as others of Ugandan origin, such as the Allied Democratic Forces and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 04/11/2013)


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