"Nations sign UN peace deal for Congo" Associated Press, February 25, 2013
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Eleven African countries signed a United Nations-drafted peace deal on Sunday to stabilize the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebels allegedly backed by neighboring countries last year threatened to oust the government.
Opening the agreement-signing meeting at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said peace, security, and cooperation framework for Congo would bring stability to central Africa.
‘‘The signing ceremony is significant even in itself,’’ Ban said in his speech....
I've come to learn that words on paper mean shit! I'm so sick of shit symbolism by the shitty elite!
Congo’s neighbors collectively promised to not interfere in its internal affairs. They also agreed to not tolerate or support armed groups....
I wouldn't hold my breath.
The United Nations says Congo suffers from persistent violence by both local and foreign armed groups that use rape as a weapon.
Related: Globe Gives You Congo
You might need a rape kit to read it.
The conflict has displaced nearly 2 million people....
And killed about 10 million (the U.N. is there to help), but you can't bring that number up or focus on it too much because it eclipses the magic 6 million figure of a certain, more important ethnic group.
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Meanwhile, as each day goes by 1,400 more people die, adding to the immense toll. If you cut through the African bush you will see that the militias are western intelligence agency covert operations in the service of corporations -- and why.
No wonder nothing ever changes from year to year.
"Villagers flee new fighting in Congo" Associated Press, May 21, 2013
GOMA, Congo — Clashes erupted Monday in the Democratic Republic of Congo between government troops and a rebel group believed to be backed by neighboring Rwanda, escalating to the use of mortars and rocket launchers in the first fighting between the groups since the M23 rebels overtook and later retreated from the provincial capital of Goma last year.
Fears that the rebels will try to retake Goma have been mounting since the UN Security Council created an intervention brigade with a mandate to attack the armed group.
As we saw with Mali, Libya, and the Ivory Coast, and quite frankly all of Africa, this just creates conditions for western powers to get more involved.
The M23 called the creation of the brigade a ‘‘declaration of war.’’
Monday’s fighting forced thousands of people to flee, leaving behind deserted villages. Hundreds sat with their belongings packed at their feet near one barrier put up by a UN peacekeeping mission in Kanyaruchinya....
The M23 rebel movement is made up of soldiers from the Tutsi ethnic group, who defected from the Congolese army. The M23 on Monday denied that they had attacked the military and said that Congo’s army had opened fire.
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"CONGO VIOLENCE ERUPTS -- Congolese displaced by fighting between rebels and government troops fled the are of Kanyarucinya through Munigi near Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday. At least 130 people were killed, including 10 soldiers, in the deadliest clashes in months between troops and rebels (Boston Globe July 16 2013)."
If I had not bought a printed paper I would never have seen that photograph.
"Casualties as Congo troops, UN forces fight rebels" Associated Press / August 25, 2013
GOMA, Congo — Congolese soldiers and rebel forces suffered heavy casualties Sunday as they fought for a fifth day near the city of Goma in the country’s volatile east, a doctor near the front line said.
Dr. Isaac Warwanamiza, speaking from a hospital north of Goma, said he had seen 82 dead since early Sunday, 23 of whom were government soldiers, the highest death toll reported since hostilities broke out last week.
Medical services were struggling to cope with the scale of the casualties among government troops and the M23 fighters who launched their rebellion last year, Warwanamiza said.
Three United Nations peacekeepers were wounded Saturday in the fighting, though no injuries were immediately reported by the UN peacekeeping mission Sunday.
Full story for BostonGlobe.com subscribers.
Except all you get is a broken link?
The front line is only 9 miles north of Goma. M23 rebels briefly overtook the city late last year, and Congolese and UN troops have been battling to dislodge rebels from heights over the city since Wednesday.
Meaning the UN is killing people.
I guess if I had stayed current on this stuff and not hated reading the Globe....
"UN increases involvement in Congo" by SALEH MWANAMILONGO and KRISTA LARSON | Associated Press, August 29, 2013
KINSHASA, Congo — UN forces and the Congolese army attacked rebel positions with helicopter gunships, armored personnel carriers, and a phalanx of ground troops Wednesday, ramping up the UN’s engagement in the country’s tormented east.
Why am I not surprised by this as I read and post?
The UN announced one of its peacekeepers had been killed during the assault. Seven other UN troops were wounded, spokesman Farhan Haq said, without announcing further details.
The fighting is taking place nine miles from Goma, the provincial capital.
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"Cease-fire in Congo; ire in Rwanda" by Saleh Mwanamilongo and Rukmini Callimachi | Associated Press, August 31, 2013
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Rebels entrenched in the hills above one of eastern Congo’s largest cities declared a cease-fire on Friday and began retreating from the front line, the first indication that a joint United Nations and Congolese offensive might be gaining the upper hand in the conflict.
Deja vu! And I'm ALWAYS HAPPY TO SEE CEASE FIRE!
But in a sign that the conflict could spill over the border, a large convoy of military vehicles loaded with troops, tanks, artillery cannons, and heavy weaponry was seen leaving the capital of Rwanda, Congo’s neighbor to the east, which is accused of funneling arms and troops to the M23 rebels.
Rwandan leaders said they were acting to defend their border, after shells and rockets allegedly fired from the Congolese side of the Rwanda-Congo border landed in Rwandan territory, killing a mother and seriously wounding her 2-month-old baby.
Late Thursday, Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo of Rwanda said on her official Twitter account: ‘‘Deliberate shelling of Rwandan territory unacceptable. Rwandan civilians are falling victims. A provocation that will no longer B tolerated.’’
On Friday, the foreign minister tweeted: ‘‘Rwandan troops are not in DRC (yet); when they are, you will know.’’
The heightening of hostilities with Rwanda comes as Congolese and United Nations troops appear to be making significant gains against the M23 rebels. The UN intervention force has pounded the M23 rebel positions with attack helicopters and artillery fire.
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"Congo army regains town of Rumangabo" by JOSEPH KAY and SALEH MWANAMILONGO / Associated Press / October 28, 2013
RUMANGABO, Congo (AP) — The Congolese army, who just one year ago abandoned their posts and fled in the face of an advancing rebel army, succeeded on Monday in taking back the fifth, rebel-held town, in what appears to be a turning point in the conflict.
The civilian population, which reportedly suffered grave abuses under the rebels, poured into the streets to welcome the soldiers, running alongside their tanks. Women threw flowers. Men picked palm leaves off of the nearby trees and waved them. The U.N. envoy to Congo told the Security Council it was the military end of the M23 rebel group.
‘‘I confirm that we have just taken the city of Rumangabo,’’ said Congolese military spokesman Lt. Col. Olivier Hamuli. ‘‘(We) entered the city at 11 a.m. and were met by the applause of the population.’’
Over the weekend, Congolese soldiers took back Kiwanja, Rutshuru, Buhumba and Kibumba. Of the five, Rumangabo is the most important militarily, because it is home to one of the largest military camps in Congo’s troubled east.
The soldiers faced no resistance as they headed into Rumangabo town, according to a reporter for The Associated Press accompanying the troops. From there they advanced toward the camp, which dates back to the time of ex-dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and was taken over about a year ago by the M23 rebels, who used it to train their recruits.
The Congolese army reached the camp at around noon, secured the stockpile of weapons left there and posted guards. It was there that the Congolese troops were approached by Jacques Leon Liripa, a Congolese soldier who had been captured by the rebels in 2012, and spent more than a year as a prisoner of war. He said the M23 rebels deserted the area on Sunday afternoon, and he was able to break out of jail. He spent the night in the forest, emerging only when he saw his former colleagues.
Martin Kobler, the U.N. special representative for Congo, briefed the U.N. Security Council and told them ‘‘We are witnessing the military end of the M23,’’ according to French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud.
Meaning western support has dried up and the U.N. has established colonial control.
‘‘We hope that the rebel movement has been chastised, and will go back to the negotiating table,’’ Araud said.
The Congolese government will quickly restore administration, said the governor of the North Kivu province. ‘‘I confirm the fall of Rumangabo,’’ said Julien Paluku. ‘‘We have just held two meetings in order to discuss how to uplift the population ... and we are announcing the restoration of the civil service within the next 24 hours.’’
The M23 rebels are just the latest to take over a swath of the country’s volatile east. Their members belonged to a now-defunct rebel army which agreed on March 23, 2009 to integrate the national army, in return for abandoning the conflict. These same soldiers mutinied in 2012, claiming that the Congolese had not fulfilled its promises under their accord.
At first ignored, the M23 rebels were buoyed by what a United Nations panel of experts tasked with investigating the conflict said were arms, money and troops from neighboring Rwanda, Congo’s smaller but militarily powerful neighbor to the east. In several reports, the panel documented the movement of entire battalions of troops from Rwanda to Congo to fight alongside the M23, travelling across the unpatrolled jungle footpaths separating the two nations.
Fighting between the two sides has flared and ebbed throughout the past year, each time ending with stalled peace talks, hosted in Kampala, the capital of neighboring Uganda.
Former Senator Russell Feingold, the United States’ special envoy for the Great Lakes and Congo, told reporters in Paris after a trip to the region that the two sides need to return to the negotiating table.
He's a nice guy and all, but....
‘‘My belief and the belief of the U.S. government and the larger international community is that this is not a situation for a military solution,’’ he said. ‘‘Our belief is that the best thing now is to have the fighting stop so in the next few days an agreement in Kampala can be finalized.’’
That sounds so Syria!
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Related:
"International court detains Rwandan-born warlord" by Mike Corder | Associated Press, March 23, 2013
THE HAGUE — African warlord Bosco Ntaganda was taken from the US Embassy in Rwanda on Friday and put on a flight to The Hague, where he faces trial at the International Criminal Court on charges including murder, rape, and persecution in a rebel group’s deadly reign of terror that gripped eastern Congo a decade ago.
I'm not excusing the stuff he did in service of corporate and western interests, but from the outside the U.N. court looks god-damn racist and classist!
Ntaganda was due to arrive late Friday night, nearly seven years after he was first indicted. His transfer was hailed as a crucial step in bringing to justice one of Africa’s most notorious warlords. It was also a relief to a court that last year acquitted another rebel leader accused of atrocities in Congo.
Ever notice all their guys are warlords while all our guys are statesmen/politicians? And our guys have killed far more.
Nicknamed ‘‘The Terminator’’ because of his reputation for ruthlessness in battle, Ntaganda became a symbol of impunity in Africa, at times playing tennis in eastern Congo, apparently without fear of arrest.
He must have been matched with Charlie Taylor.
Secretary of State John Kerry called the transfer ‘‘an important moment for all who believe in justice and accountability....
Sigh.
Ntaganda is believed to have turned himself in after becoming vulnerable when his M23 rebel group split into two camps last month over the decision to bow to international pressure and withdraw from Goma late last year.
Oh, so they aren't really gone.
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"36 die as plane crashes in eastern Congo" Associated Press, March 05, 2013
GOMA, Congo — A plane crash in the eastern city of Goma killed 36 passengers Monday, Congolese officials said.
The Fokker 50, a two-engine plane operated by the airline CAA, was carrying 40 people and only four survived, said Naasson Kubuya, Goma’s mayor.
The plane was flying from Lodja in East Kasai Province in the center of the country. The aircraft crashed in the center of Goma, near the building of the national electoral commission, but it did not hit any people on the ground, he said. The United Nations also has peacekeeping offices in the area.
‘‘The pilot managed to avoid houses,’’ said Kubuya. ‘‘It’s a horrifying accident. The city of Goma has become a field of disasters. We sympathize with the families of the deceased.’’
There was no immediate comment from CAA.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the worst air safety records in the world. Last year, a plane crash in the city of Bukavu killed President Joseph Kabila’s personal adviser, Augustin Katumba.
So who wanted him dead, and who was on this plane?
Many previous crashes have occurred in Goma, the main city in the east.
The runway at the city’s airport has not been fully repaired after a volcanic eruption in 2002 left it covered in lava.
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