23 07 13 Xinhua: UN mission calls for restraint after fighting resumes in eastern DR Congo

 

 

 The United Nations
Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)
reported that heavy fighting resumed on Monday "between the Congolese Army
and the M23 armed group in the Mutaho-Kibati area, near Goma, in North Kivu province, " said Martin Nesirky,
spokesperson for UN secretary-general, at the daily briefing.

"MONUSCO adds that
after exchanging intermittent fire over the weekend, both sides are now using
small arms, mortars and rockets, " Nesirky said.

"The mission
reiterates its call for restraint and its peacekeepers in the area remain on
high alert," he added.

On Friday, the UN
spokesperson said that a new round of clashes had stopped between the
government forces and M23 rebels around the town of Kanyaruchinya, about 15 km from Goma, the capital
of North Kivu province.

He also noted that
MONUSCO had placed its forces on high alert since the clashes broke out on July
14 and it was ready to take all necessary measures, including use of lethal
force, to protect civilians.

Tensions in the region
have been increasing recently as the M23 publicly decried the deployment of an
intervention brigade within MONUSCO and broke off the so-called Kampala peace talks with
the DRC government.

The deployment of an intervention
brigade within MONUSCO was authorized by the UN Security Council in March to
carry out targeted offensive operations, with or without the Congolese national
army, against armed groups that threaten peace in eastern DRC.

The M23 accused the MONUSCO
of being the cause of resumption of hostility in North
Kivu province and blamed it for allowing the DR Congo Armed Forces
and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda to launch attacks
against the M23.