Democratic Republic of the Congo

The UN envoy for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday denounced the recent violence against the Organization’s stabilization mission in the country, which has been the target of “manipulation and stigmatization”.

The Democratic Republic of Congo says it is ready to welcome regional troops to start a planned operation against rebels who have caused civilians untold suffering. The first contingent to arrive under this arrangement will be the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), who have since last week been deploying their logistical support systems.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda aired their dispute over one of the armed groups causing instability along their borders to the world this week. The UN has conceded that its peacekeepers can't defeat the M23. … Kinshasa has increasingly questioned the value of the UN peacekeepers.

The opening of the September parliamentary ordinary session, electoral preparations, national and regional efforts to address insecurity in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and anti-MONUSCO protests marked the reporting period.

The 250 Ukrainian troops with the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo have returned home to help fight Russian forces. When the withdrawal of Ukraine's aviation unit was announced in March, diplomats warned it could leave the UN mission seriously short of helicopters. … The eight Ukrainian helicopters made up about a third of the UN fleet.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has signed a troop deployment deal with the East African Community (EAC), signalling the imminent formal sending of forces to combat rebels in the east of the country.

At least one person has been killed in the eastern Congolese city of Beni as shots were fired during another protest against the United Nations’ MONUSCO peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

[…] An army spokesman confirmed the attack on Wednesday, which took place in Ituri province on Tuesday evening, and blamed it on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militia active in eastern DRC since the 1990s, which has pledged allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Monusco, is evacuating its base in the eastern town of Butembo. Local civil society actors say they feel 'a sense of satisfaction' and congratulate 'the population who mobilised as one to demand the unconditional withdrawal of this contingent'.

Soldiers from Burundi have deployed to the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as the first part of a recently created East African regional force to respond to crises. … Tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, which the former has accused of supporting the recently resurgent M23 rebel group, in part led to the East African Community creating the regional force earlier this year.