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UN:
UPSURGE IN VIOLENT CLASHES IN EASTERN DR CONGO ALARMS SECRETARY-GENERAL:
12/12/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 12 December 2007 --
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he was deeply concerned by the
intense fighting engulfing North Kivu province in the far east of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), especially its impact on local civilians, many of
whom have been forced to flee to escape the renewed violence.
In a
statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said he was “particularly
troubled by reports of massive displacement and mistreatment of the
population” in North Kivu, where Government forces (FARDC) are clashing with
troops loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda.
“The
United Nations is working closely with the Government of the DRC and with others
to help bring peace and security to this troubled region,” the statement
noted. “The Secretary-General calls on the forces of Laurent Nkunda to lay
down their arms.”
More
than 4,500 blue helmets with the UN peacekeeping mission to the DRC (known by
its French acronym MONUC) have been deployed to North Kivu to help ensure the
defence of Goma, the provincial capital, and the key town of Saké.
William
Lacy Swing, the head of MONUC and the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative to the DRC, has confirmed that Saké remains under the control of
UN peacekeepers and that the blue helmets will do everything under their
mandated powers to protect Goma and Saké from falling to the Nkunda forces.
Yesterday dissident troops recaptured Mushake, a hillside town about 40
kilometres northwest of Goma.
Since
the clashes began in North Kivu earlier this year, MONUC has transported more
than 25 tons of provisions for the Congolese armed forces, conducted 33 air
reconnaissance missions and evacuated 151 wounded FARDC soldiers.
North
Kivu has also been plagued by increased sexual violence against both women and
young girls, with some 2,700 cases of rape reported between January and October
this year in the province.
The
statement from Mr. Ban’s spokesperson emphasized that the mission backs the
Government’s efforts to establish legitimate State authority in the far east
of the troubled country and to meet its commitment under the Nairobi communiqué,
which the DRC and Rwanda signed last month to try to work together against
illegal armed groups operating around the border between the two countries.
“The
Secretary-General calls on the Government of the DRC to take all measures
necessary to protect civilians.”
An
inter-agency UN mission headed to the area this week to assess the situation and
devise recommendations on how to protect internally displaced persons (IDPs) and
the local civilian population.
Yet this
week alone, another 60,000 to 70,000 IDPs are reported to be on the move again,
this time from camps near Goma. More than 400,000 people have been displaced in
North Kivu in the past 12 months.
The UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that
currently all humanitarian movements outside Goma are proceeding only under the
escort of MONUC blue helmets. Several relief agencies have temporarily withdrawn
their staff from areas close to clashes and most aid convoys have been
postponed.
The UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has deposited several thousand basic supply kits to
zones that might soon become inaccessible because of the fighting, while the
World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing food to thousands of families living
at the IDP camp at Kibumba.
The
UN’s humanitarian action plan for the DRC next year, launched yesterday, calls
for $575 million, with almost 30 per cent of the total dedicated just to North
Kivu.
The
eastern DRC remains the most violent region in the vast country, where MONUC has
otherwise overseen the transition from a six-year civil war that cost 4 million
lives in fighting and attendant hunger and disease – widely considered the
most lethal conflict in the world since World War II – to gradual
stabilization, culminating in the first democratic elections in over four
decades last year.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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