14 01 14 UN – Rebels attack town in eastern DR Congo

In
the latest violence, Mayi Mayi Sheka fighters attacked Pinga, in North Kivu
province, but left after a 30-minute gun fight with the Congolese Armed Forces
(FARDC), the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC (MONUSCO)
reported.

Around
1,000 civilians sought refuge during the confrontation near the UN Mission’s
base in Pinga, but only 90 remained there today, the others having returned
home.

Briefing
the Security Council yesterday by video link from Kinshasa, the DRC
capital,Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson, warned that
the positive atmosphere that prevailed last month following the defeat of the
M23 rebel group has “vanished” and the region is going through a period of
renewed turbulence.

This
has been marked by deadly attacks in eastern DRC by another rebel group, the
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the ongoing crisis in Central African Republic
(CAR) and the eruption of fighting in South Sudan.

The
Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Region, signed by
11 nations last February, remains “the best chance” to achieve sustainable
peace, security, cooperation and development in the Great Lakes Region, she
said.

In
the same briefing Mr. Ban’s Special Representative for DRC Martin Kobler called
the Framework a major milestone, along with the creation of an intervention
brigade within MONUSCO and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, which put all
armed groups on notice that “we have the will and the means to take robust
action at any time.

“In
the coming weeks, we will finalize the review of our military deployment across
eastern Congo. We will then have a more flexible force. We need it to be more
agile, ready to deploy when it is needed and where civilians are threatened, to
take on the threat,” he added, also noting that peace in eastern DRC can only be
durable if its root causes are addressed.

“Restitution
of State authority alone is not enough. Only regional cooperation and good
governance will provide the peace dividend the population is
expecting.”

Today
he strongly condemned the latest attack and sent his condolences to the families
of those who lost their lives and the Congolese people, stressing that MONUSCO
will continue to work to consolidate the recent military
gains.

The
DRC has been torn apart by civil wars and factional fighting since it became
independent from Belgium in 1960, but with the support of a series of UN
missions a measure of stability has been restored to much of the vast country
over the past decade.

But
fighting between the Government and a variety of rebel and sectarian groups has
continued to devastate the eastern regions, particularly North and South Kivu
provinces.

In
March, the Security Council authorized the deployment of an intervention brigade
within MONUSCO, based in North Kivu province with a total of 3,069 peacekeepers,
to carry out targeted offensive operations, with or without FARDC, against armed
groups threatening peace in eastern DRC.