DRC: Unity is not yet there

By on April 6, 2010
The airport in the north-western province of Ecuador was overrun on Sunday in clashes. The situation remains tense in Mbandaka although the Congolese armed forces backed by MONUC have taken full control of the airport, but also confirmed that sweeps around the airport in the city and surrounding area continued.

The spokesman for MONUC also said that some insurgents had been arrested and were in the hands of the Congolese police in Mbandaka, but their number is unknown. It is very difficult to get information on what exactly happens on the ground. Even MONUC and FARDC seem to encounter many difficulties in gathering their information.
These clashes just happen in a period the UN is in talks with DRC officials on withdrawing its 20,500-strong peacekeeping mission, MONUC. The mission’s current mandate expires in May 2011, and this new fighting might put such a withdrawal into question.

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