JOHANNESBURG, September 29 (ANA) – In an effort to prevent an escalation in clashes the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has deployed peacekeepers to Uvira in South Kivu province.
The UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) reported on Thursday that the deployment was to prevent attacks on Uvira city.
“We are strongly committed to the protection of civilians, including vulnerable groups such as refugees and displaced people,” said Maman Sidikou, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of MONUSCO.
The arrival of the peacekeepers followed thousands of panicked civilians being confined to their homes on Thursday as the Mai-Mai Yakutumba militia advanced towards the city, the second largest town in South Kivu province and situated near Burundi’s border.
The militia – which opposes Kabila, integration into the military and is allied with Burundi’s National Liberation Front (FNL) – reportedly advanced to within 5km of Uvira on Wednesday afternoon before the army deployed to push them back.
Fighting between the Mai-Mai Yakutumba militia and the Congo military is just the latest violence and insecurity to hit the DRC, following President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down when his mandate expired last December.
More than 1.5 million people have been displaced from eastern and central Congo in the ongoing violence over the past year, while millions perished in the civil war between 1996 and 2003.
Numerous armed groups are fighting one another over control of the country’s natural resources, and political control, and there are fears of a new civil war.
Repression against political activists and opponents by security and intelligence forces also continues unabated.
– African News Agency (ANA)
