Democratic Republic of the Congo

The East African Community (EAC) is engaged in the search for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A day after the arrival of Kenyan troops in Goma, North Kivu, former President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in Kinshasa where he is to stay for two days. The EAC facilitator is accompanied by East African Community Secretary General Peter Mathuki.

Kenya’s Parliament has approved the deployment of nearly 1,000 soldiers for a new regional force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid questions about the $37m cost for the first six months of the mission.

At least 20 people have been killed this week in an attack in western DR Congo, local officials said Wednesday, where ethnic violence has been raging for months.

[…] Kenyan troops are heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a force sent by the East African Community. … Kenya will be the second east African nation to send troops to the eastern DRC after Burundi.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday said its troops had made a strategic withdrawal from the eastern military base of Rumangabo, ceding ground in the battle against the M23 rebel group.

Thousands have protested in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) city of Goma, denouncing Rwanda’s alleged support of M23 rebels, as DRC recalled its interim acting ambassador from Rwanda in a further souring of relations.

Relations between the Central African neighbors have worsened since the resurgence last November of the of a mostly Congolese Tutsi group, the M23, which had been dormant for years. The DRC has accused its smaller neighbor Rwanda of backing the militia, something officials in Kigali deny.

More than 140 people have been killed in horrific intercommunal violence in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday, briefing journalists in Geneva, that some victims had been beheaded.

Torture is “widespread” and underestimated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the abuse involves armed groups and State forces, UN investigators said on Wednesday.

Fighters from a notorious militia hacked 14 civilians to death in an attack in eastern DR Congo, local officials said Sunday, in the latest violence to hit the turbulent region.