DRC: The military operation order

By on September 16, 2010
In the wake of the suspension of mining activities in eastern DRC, the Congolese army will deploy in the area to hunt down Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels and Congolese Mai Mai Cheka militia,

operating illegally in the mining squares. Both armed groups have been implicated recently in the mass rape in the town of Luvungi. However, the eagerness of the President Kabila still raises questions. Why is it only now that he is willing to clean up the mining in this area, considered the “promised land” for these men without faith or law? For sure, the rapprochement with Rwandan President Paul Kagamé and the relations between Kigali and Kinshasa doing increasingly better are to be considered in the equation. In any case, the Congolese army is preparing to launch an offensive in the Walikale territory. The Chief of Staff of the FARDC, General Didier Etumba, is already on site to prepare the military intervention, said Maj. Sylvain Ekenge. “We’re really going to engage all means in this part of North Kivu to definitely break down the Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels”, he said. The bet remains difficult especially as neighbouring countries like Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda have always been exploiting the area resources, and we should not forget some Western countries that supply arms to the rebels in exchange for minerals and have no interest to see the area pacified.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.