KINSHASA: A United Nations (UN) Security Council delegation arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday for a three-day visit, the global body said, as clashes with M23 rebels continued in the east.
The Tutsi-led militia has seized parts of the territory in DR Congo’s North Kivu province since re-emerging from dormancy in late 2021. The group has also advanced in recent days, threatening to end all road links to Goma, a city across the Rwandan border with more than one million people. The delegation was scheduled to meet President Felix Tshisekedi before travelling to Goma on Saturday.
MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, said the objective of UNSC’s visit was to assess the security and humanitarian situation in North Kivu. The peacekeeping force is among the largest and most expensive UN missions in the world, with over 16,000 uniformed personnel. Residents accuse it of failing to manage the dozens of armed groups operating in eastern DRC, including M23 rebels.
UN Secretary-General
Several regional initiatives aimed at defusing the conflict have failed. An Angola-mediated ceasefire that was due to take effect on Tuesday collapsed the same day. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had urged the rebels to abide by the truce.
French President Emmanuel Macron last week also threatened sanctions against parties that did not respect an agreed ceasefire. The DRC government has accused Rwanda of backing M23 with UN experts, the United States and several other western states also concluding that Rwanda supports the group, although Kigali has denied that.
About 800,000 people have been forced to displace amid fighting between the DRC army and M23. —AFP/APP
