UN peacekeepers deployed to east DRC after LRA attacks

Aug 20, 2008 (UN News Centre Africa) report - 'DR Congo: UN peacekeepers deployed to east after rebel attacks' - excerpt:

United Nations peacekeepers and soldiers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been jointly deployed in the eastern provinces of Ituri and Orientale to protect civilians after attacks by the rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

A spokesman for the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC), Michel Bonnardeaux, told a press briefing today that the Ugandan rebel group had attacked and robbed villages around Duru over the past week. He said the Ituri Patriotic Front had also launched sporadic attacks in the Irumu area, and remained a serious threat.

MONUC went on to report further unrest in eastern DRC, including continued regrouping and recruitment by the Mayi-Mayi in North Kivu.

Aid agencies say that eastern DRC continues to be plagued by serious human rights abuses, seven months after the signing of peace accords at the Kivus conference in January.



Photo: MONUC backs DRC campaign to disarm national and foreign armed groups (caption & file photo/UN News Centre)

Full story: UN News Centre - Africa 20/8/08 06:00
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27768&Cr=monuc&...

[Cross posted today at Congo Watch http://congowatch.blogspot.com]